'\ 


p. 


K     A 


The 
Crises  of  the  Christ 


G.  CAMPBELL  MORGAN,  D.D. 

Author    of   "A   First    Century    Message   to    Twentieth    Century 

Christians,''  "The  Spirit  of  God,"  "Life  Problems," 

"God's  Methods  with  Man,"  etc. 


''^^^C^h^^^^^ 


New  York 


Chicago  Toronto 


Fleming    H.    Revell    Company 

London    and    Edinburgh 


Copyright   1903  by 

FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 
0«^) 


SECOND  EDITION 


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TO 
Mr  FATHER  AND  MOTHER 

Who  forty  years  ago  gave  me  to  Christ,  and  who,  never  doubting 

the   acceptance   by   HIM   of  their   child,   did  from   infancy, 

and  through  youth,  train    me  as  HIS ;  from   whom    I 

received  my  first  knowledge  of  HIM,  so  that  when 

the    necessity   came  for   my  personal   choosing, 

so    did   I  recognixe    the   claims  of  HIS 

love,    that    without    revulsion,    and 

hardly  knowing  when, 

I    YIELDED    TO    HIM 

my    allegiance    and    my 

love,  devoting   spirit,  soul,  and  body 

to  HIS  sweet  will,  and  glad  service ;  in 

thankfulness  to  them  for  their  earliest  teaching, 

and  continuance  of  revelation  of  HIM  by  example,  in 

many  differing  circumstances,  in  which  their  loyalty  to  HIM 

was  a  perpetual  witness  to  my  heart,  of  the  perfection  of  HIS  love; 

in  thankfulness  that  they  still  are  with  me  labouring  together  in  prayer, 

I  DEDICATE  THE  BOOK. 


"  Tou  have  had  various  '  lives  of  Christ.,'  German  and 
other^  lately  provided  among  your  other  severely  historical 
studies.  Some.,  critical ;  and  some.,  sentimental.  But  there  is 
only  07ie  light  by  which  you  can  read  the  life  of  Christ., — the 
light  of  the  life  you  now  lead  in  the  flesh ;  and  that  not  the 
natural,  but  the  won  life.     '  Nevertheless.,  I  live ;  yet  not  /, 

but  Christ  liveth  in  me.'  " — John  Ruskin. 

"  St.  Mark's  Rest." 


Contents 


INTRODUCTORY— THE    SUBJECT    AND    THE 
SCHEME 

PRELIMINARY— THE  CALL  FOR  CHRIST— MAN 

FALLEN 

I.      Man  Distanced  from  God  by  Sin 23 

II.      Man  Ignorant  of  God  Through  Sin       ...        36 

III.  Man  Unlike  God  in  Sin •       48 

BOOK  I— THE  BIRTH 

IV.  The  Great  Mystery — The  God-Man     ...       67  "^ 
V.     The  Meaning — God  was  in  Christ       ....      84   ^ 

VI.     Signs  to  the  Sons  of  Men 95  5? 

BOOK  II— THE  BAPTISM 

VII.     The  Parting  of  the  Ways 107     *" 

VIII.     Light  on  the  Hidden  Years 123    <•• 

IX.     The  Vision  of  John I37    T 

BOOK  III— THE  TEMPTATION      "^ 

X.  Introductory 153 

XI.  The  First  Temptation 162 

XII.  The  Second  Temptation 174 

XIII.  The  Third  Temptation 186 

XIV.  Final 200 

9 


lo  Contents 

BOOK  IV_THE  TRANSFIGURATION 

iy^   XV.  Introductory 215 

XVI.     The  Master  Himself 224 

XVII.     The  Celestial  Visitors 235 

XVIII.     The  Dazed  Disciples 246 

XIX.     The  Things  That  Remained 257 

BOOK  V— THE  CRUCIFIXION 

^    XX.     The  Approach 275 

^   XXI.     The  Sufferings  of  Christ 290 

XXII.     Sin  Unveiled,  Grace  Outshining     ....  304 

XXIII.  The  Kingly  Exodus 317 

XXIV.  The  Representative  Crowds 329 

BOOK  VI— THE  RESURRECTION 

XXV.     Perfect  Victory 350 

XXVI.     The  Divine  Seal 361 

XXVII.     Faith's  Anchorage 371 

BOOK  VII— THE  ASCENSION 

XXVIII.     God's  Perfect  Man 389 

XXIX.      Man's  Wounded  God 398 

XXX.     The  New  Union 405 

RESULTANT— THE  ANSWER  OF  CHRIST— MAN 

REDEEMED 

XXXI.     Man  Restored  TO  God  BY  Christ    ....  421 

XXXII.     Man  Knowing  God  Through  Christ    .     .     .  428 

XXXIII.     Man  Like  God  in  Christ 439 

INDEXES 

Scriptures  Referred  to .  451 

Poetry 45" 

Writers  Quoted  or  Referred  to    ...     .  458 

Subject  Index 459 


INTRODUCTORY 
THE  SUBJECT  AND  THE  SCHEME 


**  Christ  has  come^  the  Light  of  the  world.  Long  ages  may 
yet  elapse  before  His  beams  have  reduced  the  world  to  order 
and  beauty^  and  clothed  a  purified  humanity  with  light  as  with 
a  garment.  But  He  has  come  :  the  Revealer  of  the  snares  and 
chasms  that  lurk  in  darkness^  the  Rebuker  of  every  evil  thing 
that  prowls  by  night.,  the  Stiller  of  the  storm-winds  of  passion  ; 
the  ^uickener  of  all  that  is  wholesome.,  the  Adorner  of  all  that 
is  beautiful,  the  Reconciler  of  contradictions.,  the  Harmonizer 
of  discords.,  the  Healer  of  diseases.,  the  Saviour  from  sin.  He 
has  come :  the  Torch  of  truth.,  the  Anchor  of  hope.,  the  Pillar 
of  faith.,  the  Rock  for  strength.,  the  Refuge  for  security.,  the 
Fountain  for  refreshment,  the  Vine  for  gladness.,  the  Rose  for 
beauty.,  the  Lamb  for  tenderness.,  the  Friend  for  counsel.,  the 
Brother  for  love,  fesus  Christ  has  trod  the  world.  The 
trace  of  the  Divine  footsteps  will  never  be  obliterated.  And 
the  Divine  footsteps  were  the  footsteps  of  a  Man.  The  example 
of  Christ  is  such  as  men  can  follow.  On  !  until  mankind  wears 
His  image.  On  !  towards  yon  summit  on  which  stands.,  not  an 
angel.,  not  a  disembodied  spirit.,  not  an  abstract  of  ideal  and 
unattainable  virtues,  but  THE  MAN  JESUS  CHRIST." 

— Peter  Bayne,  A.  M. 

"  2'Ae  Testitnony  of  Christ  to  Christianity." 


INTRODUCTORY 

THE  SUBJECT  AND  THE  SCHEME 

The  authoritative  literature  concerning  the  history  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  contained  within  the  New  Testa- 
ment. He  is  the  supreme  subject  of  the  whole  library. 
Every  several  book  gathers  its  value  from  its  testimony  to 
His  person,  His  teaching,  or  His  work.  The  perfection 
of  the  whole  is  created  by  its  unification  in  Him.  The 
first  four  of  its  books  chronicle  His  deeds,  and  His  words, 
during  the  brief  span  of  a  lifetime  lasting  for  a  generation. 
The  rest  of  the  book  is  occupied  with  the  subject  of  His 
deeds  and  His  words  through  all  subsequent  generations. 
The  book  of  Acts  is  the  first  chapter  in  that  history  of  the 
Church,  which  is  the  history  of  the  deeds  of  Christ  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  through  His  people.  The  epistles  contain  the 
teaching  of  Christ  by  the  Spirit,  through  chosen  men,  for 
the  guidance  of  His  Church  until  His  second  advent.  The 
last  book  contains  a  prophetic  vision  of  the  final  move- 
ments, which  shall  firmly  establish  His  reign  over  the 
whole  earth. 

The  Old  Testament  foretells  His  coming,  and  chronicles 
for  these  days  the  methods  by  which  the  hope  of  His  advent 
was  kept  alive ;  and,  indeed,  burned  ever  more  brightly 
through  the  processes  of  the  past.  The  New  is  the  history 
of  that  advent ;  and  the  new  message  of  hope,  under  the 
inspiration  of  which  men  move  through  the  confusion  of 
conflict  towards  the  certainty  of  ultimate  victory. 

13 


14  Introductory 

The  history  of  the  New  Testament  is  at  once  the  story 
of  the  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  the  account  of  the 
accomplishment  of  the  mission  of  the  Christ.  These  are 
phases  forming  the  one  perfect  story.  The  life  of  Jesus 
was  the  carrying  out  of  the  mission  of  the  Christ.  The 
work  of  the  Messiah  was  accomplished  in  the  orderliness 
of  the  life  of  Jesus. 

In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  notice  the  opening 
and  closing  verses  of  the  New  Testament.  Matthew  the 
evangelist,  places  Jesus  in  His  relation  to  the  race.  "The 
book  of  the  generation  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  David, 
the  son  of  Abraham."  '  The  reference  is  not  to  the  whole 
of  the  New  Testament,  nor  even  to  the  whole  of  the 
Gospel,  but  to  the  genealogy  which  immediately  follows. 
The  use  here  of  the  word  "  Christ "  declares  the  appoint- 
ment of  this  Man  to  definite  service.  It  is  rather  a  title 
than  a  name.  By  His  name  "Jesus"  He  is  indicated  as 
united  to  the  race,  coming  through  the  chosen  people.  By 
the  title  "  Christ"  He  is  identified  as  the  One  Who  comes 
to  fulfil  the  promises  of  the  past,  by  the  accor  plishment  of 
Divine  purposes. 

The  last  verse  of  the  New  Testament  reads,  "  The  grace 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  the  saints.  Amen."  * 
Here  there  is  prefixed  to  the  name  "Jesus,"  the  title  "  Lord." 
The  Revised  Versions  both  English  and  American  have 
relegated  the  word  "  Christ  "  to  the  margin.  Some  ancient 
authorities,  however,  include  it.  The  essential  value  of 
this  comparison  of  verses  is  not  interfered  with,  whichever 
view  may  be  taken.  The  New  Testament  opens  with  a 
declaration,  introducing  the  Man  Jesus,  and  declaring  His 
appointment  to  service.  It  closes  with  a  benediction,  which 
announces  the  crowning  of  Jesus  as  Lord,  consequent  upon 

I  Matt.  1:1.  *  Rev.  22 :  21. 


Introductory  15 

His  accomplishment  of  the  purpose  appointed;  and  the 
use  of  the  word  "  grace  "  as  the  portion  of  the  saints,  re- 
veals the  glorious  issue  of  that  work. 

He  came  for  a  purpose.  ■  The  purpose  is  realized.  He 
was  anointed  of  God  for  the  doing  of  a  work.  The  work 
is  accomplished,  and  He  is  now  the  Lord  through  Whom 
the  grace  of  God  is  expressed  towards,  and  becomes  opera- 
tive in,  such  as  are  subject  to  Him.  Thus  between  the 
opening  words  of  Matthew,  and  the  closing  statement  of 
John,  there  lies  the  story  of  His  life  and  the  account  of  His 
mission. 

The  literature  of  the  Church  has  been  enriched  by  many 
lives  of  Jesus.  Some  of  these  have  emphasized  the  facts 
of  His  humanity,  while  others  have  emphasized  the  truth 
of  His  Deity.  All  have  been  of  value.  They  have  how- 
ever been  largely  devoted  to  the  contemplation  of  the  Per- 
son of  Jesus,  rather  than  to  a  consideration  of  the  accom- 
plishment of  a  Divine  work.  It  is  to  this  particular  aspect 
of  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ  that  the  present  volume  is 
devoted.  Interest  in  Jesus  Himself  is  of  preeminent 
importance.  The  mystery  of  His  Person,  the  graciousness 
of  His  teaching,  the  beauty  of  His  character,  the  wonder 
of  His  deeds,  all  these  are  of  such  value  that  it  is  impossible 
to  attend  to  them  too  closely,  or  to  write  too  much  con- 
cerning them.  It  is,  however,  of  equal  importance  that 
this  wonderful  life  should  be  seen  as  that  of  the  anointed 
Servant  of  God,  the  Christ,  Who  in  all  the  details  of  the 
passing  days,  was  working  a  larger  work,  and  towards  a 
mightier  issue  than  a  mere  contemplation  of  the  human  life 
might  seem  to  suggest.  Indeed,  the  beauty  of  the  life 
itself  is  only  fully  appreciated  when  it  is  seen  as  related  in 
its  every  part  to  this  mighty  movement  of  God  towards  the 
redemption  of  man. 


l6  Introductory 

n  Here  therefore  attention  is  to  be  fixed,  not  so  much  upon 
the  words  of  His  lips,  or  His  working  of  wonders  and 
signs,  as  upon  His  uttering  of  a  Divine  word,  and  His 
accomplishment  of  a  Divine  work. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  volume  is  entitled  "  The 
Crises  of  the  Christ."  In  all  the  works  of  God  there  is  to 
be  discovered  an  unvarying  method  of  process  and  crisis. 
The  process  is  slow,  and  difficult  to  watch  in  its  progress. 
The  crisis  is  sudden,  and  flames  with  alight,  which  flashing 
back  upon  the  process,  explains  it ;  and  forward,  indicates 
a  new  line  of  action,  which  after  all  is  the  continuity  of 
that  which  has  preceded  it.  This  might  certainly  be  illus- 
trated by  reference  to  the  observation  of  all  natural 
phenomena.  The  story  of  the  earth,  as  read  by  scientists, 
is  the  story  of  slow  movements,  and  of  mighty  upheavals. 
The  history  of  the  butterfly  of  many  hues,  is  that  of  the 
pupa,  dormant  to  all  appearance,  which  through  crisis 
emerges  into  the  flower  of  the  air.  The  crisis  is  not  an 
accident,  not  a  catastrophe,  in  the  sense  of  disaster,  but  a 
stage  in  an  orderly  method.  This  method,  it  may  be  said 
in  passing,  is  also  to  be  seen  in  God's  revelation  of  Him- 
self to  men,  the  history  of  which  is  recorded  in  the  Divine 
Library. 

In  the  great  song  of  Isaiah,^  which  assuredly  is  Messianic 
in  value,  there  is  an  indication  of  this  method,  and  perhaps 
the  key  to  the  interpretation  of  the  whole  Scripture,  as  a 
Divine  revelation.  The  first  lessons  concerning  God  that 
men  had  to  learn  were  of  Him  as  the  "  Wonderful  Coun- 
sellor." Then  through  long  centuries  there  was  unfolded 
the  fact  that  He  is  the  "  Mighty  God."  Then  in  the 
mission  of  Christ,  in  which  are  included  the  days  of  His 
earthly  life,  and  these  years  of  the  application  of  His  work, 

•  Isa.  9  :  6. 


Introductory  1 7 

men  are  learning  that  God  is  the  "  Everlasting  Father." 
And  yet  again,  in  an  age  that  has  not  yet  dawned  upon  the 
world,  but  which  must  surely  come,  men  will  know  Him  as 
the  "  Prince  of  Peace."  In  each  case  the  process  has  been 
slow,  but  the  lesson  once  learned,  the  crisis  has  initiated  a 
new  movement,  and  commenced  a  new  process. 

This  same  method  obtains  in  the  work  of  the  Christ,  and  / 
in   that   method,   the  crises  rather  than  the  processes  form 
the  subject  of  the  present  consideration.     Of  these  there 
are  seven.     The  initial,  that  of  the  birth  of  Jesus,  thenf 
secondly,  the  baptism;    thirdly,  the  temptation;  fourthly,! 
the   transfiguration;    fifthly,  the   crucifixion;    sixthly,   then 
resurrection ;    and   seventhly,   the   ascension.      These   are 
not  at  equal  distances  as  to  time,  but  they  follow  in  orderly 
sequence,  and  in  their  entirety  contain  the  whole  story  of 
that  work  by  which  redemption  has  been  wrought  for  the 
race. 

Each  of  them  ushered  in  a  new  order  of  things  in  the 
work  of  Christ,  crowning  that  of  the  past,  and  creating  the 
force  for  that  which  was  to  come. 

All  these  lie  between  two  facts,  which  must  be  con- 
sidered. The  first  is  that  of  the  ruin  of  the  race,  which 
created  the  necessity  for  the  work  of  the  Christ.  The 
second  is  that  of  the  redemption  of  the  race,  which  issues 
from  the  work  of  the  Christ.  A  preliminary  section  of  this 
volume  will  be  devoted  to  the  ruin  which  called  for  Christ, 
and  a  final  section  to  the  statement  of  that  redemption 
which  constitutes  His  answer  to  the  call.  Thus  with 
reverence,  and  a  deep  sense  of  its  transcendent  wonder,  let 
the  great  subject  be  approached. 


PRELIMINARY 
THE  CALL  FOR  CHRIST— MAN  FALLEN 


L  Man  Distanced  From  God  by  Sin 
11.  Man  Ignorant  of  God  through  Sin 
III.  Man  Unlike  God  in  Sin 


*'  This^  we  say^  is  man^  the  fallen  principality.  In  these 
tragic  desolations  of  intelligence  and  genius^  of  passion.^  pride., 
and  sorrow.,  behold  the  import  of  his  eternity.  Be  no  mere 
spectator.,  turn  the  glass  we  give  you  round  upon  yourself  look 
into  the  ruin  of  your  own  conscious  spirit.,  and  see  how  much  it 
signifies.,  both  that  you  are  a  sinner  and  a  man.  Here.,  within 
the  soul 's  gloomy  chamber^  the  loosened  passions  rage  and  chafe., 
impatient  of  their  law ;  here  huddle  on  the  wild  and  desultory 
thoughts ;  here  the  imagination  crowds  in  shapes  of  glory  and 
disgust.,  tokens  both  and  mockeries  of  its  own  creative  power.,  no 
longer  in  the  keeping  of  reason  ;  here  sits  remorse  scowling  and 
biting  her  chain ;  here  creep  out  the  fears.,  a  meagre  and 
pale  multitude  ;  here  drives  on  the  will  in  his  chariot  of  war ; 
here  lie  trampled  the  great  aspirations.,  groaning  in  immortal 
thirst ;  here  the  blasted  affections  weeping  out  their  life  in  silent 
injury  ;  all  that  you  see  without.,  in  the  warSy  revenges^  and 
the  crazed  religions  of  the  world.,  is  faithfully  represented  in 
the  appalling  disorders  of  your  own  spirit." 

— Horace  Bushnell. 

"  The  New  Life:' 


*•  Now  the  serpent  was  more  subtle  than  any  beast  of  the  field 
which  Jehovah  God  had  made.  And  he  said  unto  the  woman. 
Yea,  hath  God  said.  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  any  tree  of  the  garden  ? 
And  the  woman  said  unto  the  serpent.  Of  the  fruit  of  the  trees  of 
the  garden  we  may  eat :  but  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  which  is  in  the 
midst  of  the  garden,  God  hath  said.  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  it,  neither 
shall  ye  touch  it,  lest  ye  die.  And  the  serpent  said  unto  the 
woman,  Ye  shall  not  surely  die :  for  God  doth  know  that  in  the 
day  ye  eat  thereof,  then  your  eyes  shall  be  opened,  and  ye  shall  be 
as  God,  knowing  good  and  evil.  And  when  the  woman  saw  that 
the  tree  was  good  for  food,  and  that  it  was  a  delight  to  the  eyes, 
and  that  the  tree  was  to  be  desired  to  make  one  wise,  she  took  of 
the  fruit  thereof,  and  did  eat ;  and  she  gave  also  unto  her  husband 
with  her,  and  he  did  eat.  And  the  eyes  of  them  both  were  opened, 
and  they  knew  that  they  were  naked  ;  and  they  sewed  fig-leaves 
together,  and  made  themselves  aprons.  And  they  heard  the  voice 
of  Jehovah  God  walking  in  the  garden  in  the  cool  of  the  day :  and 
the  man  and  his  wife  hid  themselves  from  the  presence  of  Jehovah 
God  amongst  the  trees  of  the  garden. 

"And  Jehovah  God  called  unto  the  man,  and  said  unto  him. 
Where  art  thou  ?  And  he  said,  I  heard  Thy  voice  in  the  garden, 
and  I  was  afraid,  because  I  was  naked ;  and  I  hid  myself.  And 
He  said.  Who  told  thee  that  thou  wast  naked  ?  Hast  thou  eaten 
of  the  tree,  whereof  I  commanded  thee  that  thou  shouldest  not 
eat  ?  And  the  man  said.  The  woman  whom  Thou  gavest  to  be 
with  me,  she  gave  me  of  the  tree,  and  I  did  eat.  And  Jehovah 
God  said  unto  the  woman.  What  is  this  thou  hast  done?  And  the 
woman  said.  The  serpent  beguiled  me,  and  I  did  eat.  And 
Jehovah  God  said  unto  the  serpent.  Because  thou  hast  done  this, 
cursed  art  thou  above  all  cattle,  and  above  every  beast  of  the  field ; 
upon  thy  belly  shalt  thou  go,  and  dust  shalt  thou  eat  all  the  days 
of  thy  life :  and  I  will  put  enmity  between  thee  and  the  woman, 
and  between  thy  seed  and  her  seed  :  he  shall  bruise  thy  head,  and 
thou  shalt  bruise  his  heel.  Unto  the  woman  He  said,  I  will  greatly 
multiply  thy  pain  and  thy  conception ;  in  pain  thou  shalt  bring 
forth  children  ;  and  thy  desire  shall  be  to  thy  husband,  and  he  shall 
rule  over  thee.  And  unto  Adam  He  said.  Because  thou  hast 
hearkened  unto  the  voice  of  thy  wife,  and  hast  eaten  of  the  tree, 
of  which  I  commanded  thee,  saying.  Thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it : 
cursed  is  the  ground  for  thy  sake ;  in  toil  shalt  thou  eat  of  it  all  the 
days  of  thy  life  ;  thorns  also  and  thistles  shall  it  bring  forth  to  thee  ; 
and  thou  shalt  eat  the  herb  of  the  field  ;  in  the  sweat  of  thy  face 
shalt  thou  eat  bread,  till  thou  return  unto  the  ground ;  for  out  of  it 

21 


wast  thou  taken  :  for  dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou  return. 
And  the  man  called  his  wife's  name  Eve ;  because  she  was  the 
mother  of  all  living.  And  Jehovah  God  made  for  Adam  and  for 
his  wife  coats  of  skins,  and  clothed  them. 

"  And  Jehovah  God  said.  Behold,  the  man  is  become  as  one  of 
us,  to  know  good  and  evil ;  and  now,  lest  he  put  forth  his  hand, 
and  take  also  of  the  tree  of  life,  and  eat,  and  live  forever — there- 
fore Jehovah  God  sent  him  forth  from  the  garden  of  Eden,  to  till 
the  ground  from  whence  he  was  taken.  So  He  drove  out  the  man  ; 
and  He  placed  at  the  east  of  the  garden  of  Eden  the  Cherubim, 
and  the  flame  of  a  sword  which  turned  every  way,  to  keep  the 
way  of  the  tree  of  life." — Genesis  j. 

"  Therefore,  as  through  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and 
death  through  sin  ;  and  so  death  passed  unto  all  men,  for  that  all 
sinned." — Romans  j :  12. 


22 


MAN  DISTANCED  FROM  GOD  BY  SIN 

In  the  mission  of  Christ,  that  wisdom  of  God  was  mani- 
fested, and  that  power  of  God  operated,  through  which  it 
became  possible  for  ruined  man  to  be  redeemed  and  recon- 
ciled. The  marvel  of  that  wisdom,  and  the  light  of  that 
power,  can  only  be  fully  appreciated,  in  the  measure  in 
which  the  extent  and  nature  of  the  calamity  which  called 
for  Christ  is  understood.  The  whole  subject  is  indicated 
in  the  titles  of  the  three  chapters,  forming  this  preliminary 
section.  The  first  deals  with  the  initial  act  of  sin,  and  its 
result,  man  distanced  from  God  by  sin.  The  second  deals 
with  the  relative  result  of  sin,  man  ignorant  of  God  through 
sin.  While  the  third  has  to  do  with  the  effect  of  sin  upon 
man,  man  unlike  God  in  sin. 

In  dealing  with  the  first  of  these  phases  of  the  one  fact, 
it  is  necessary  first  to  consider  man  according  to  the  Divine 
ideal  in  his  unfallen  condition  ;  secondly,  to  consider  the 
fall,  as  to  man's  action ;  and  thirdly,  to  contemplate  the  re- 
sulting fact,  man's  alienation  from  God. 

I.  The  essential  truth  concerning  the  nature  of  man  is 
contained  in  a  descriptive  expression  found  in  the  book  of 
Genesis,  and  in  New  Testament  Scriptures.  He  is  spoken 
of  as  being  "  created  in  the  image  and  likeness  of  God." 
In  order  to  understand  the  significance  of  this  expression, 
it  will  be  well  to  read  the  whole  of  the  Scriptures  where  it 
occurs. 

23 


24  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

"  And  God  said,  Let  Us  make  man  in  Our  image,  after 
Our  likeness:  and  let  them  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of 
the  sea,  and  over  the  birds  of  the  heavens,  and  over  the 
cattle,  and  over  all  the  earth,  and  over  every  creeping  thing 
that  creepeth  upon  the  earth.  And  God  created  man  in 
His  own  image,  in  the  image  of  God  created  He  him; 
male  and  female  created  He  them."  ^ 

"This  is  the  book  of  the  generations  of  Adam.  In  the 
day  that  God  created  man,  in  the  likeness  of  God  made  He 
him."  2 

"  Whoso  sheddeth  man's  blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood 
be  shed  :  for  in  the  image  of  God  made  He  man."  ^ 

"  For  a  man  indeed  ought  not  to  have  his  head  veiled, 
forasmuch  as  he  is  the  image  and  glory  of  God :  but  the 
woman  is  the  glory  of  the  man."  * 

"  In  whom  the  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded  the  minds 
of  the  unbelieving,  that  the  light  of  the  Gospel  of  the  glory 
of  Christ,  Who  is  the  Image  of  God,  should  not  dawn  upon 
them."'' 

"  Who  is  the  Image  of  the  invisible  God,  the  First-born 
of  all  creation."  ^ 

*'  And  have  put  on  the  new  man,  that  is  being  renewed 
unto  knowledge  after  the  image  of  Him  that  created 
him."^ 

"  Who  being  the  effulgence  of  His  glory,  and  the  very 
Image  of  His  substance,  and  upholding  all  things  by  the 
word  of  His  power,  when  He  had  made  purification  of  sins, 
sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high."* 

These  are  the  only  passages  in  which  the  fact  of  man's 
being  created  in  the  image  and  likeness  of  God  is  definitely 
declared.     What    is   intended   by   the  expression   may   be 

I  Gen.  1 :  26,  27.     *  Gen.  5:1.  3  Gen.  9:6.  *  i  Cor.  11:7. 

»  2  Cor.  4:4.  «  Col.  1:15.  '  Col.  3 :  10.  «  Heb.  i  :  3. 


Man  Distanced  from  God  by  Sin  25 

elucidated  by  an  examination  of  the  actual  words  used. 
The  root  idea  of  the  Hebrew  word  translated  "  image  "  is 
that  of  a  shadow.  Of  the  other  word  there  can  be  no 
better  translation  than  the  one  adopted,  that  namely,  of 
likeness. 

Turning  to  the  New  Testament,  the  word  translated 
"  image  "  in  the  first  four  Scriptures  quoted,  is  the  word 
ei/icuv,  which  suggests  the  idea  of  an  outline  resemblance, 
very  literally  a  profile.  The  word  translated  "  image  "  in 
the  passage  from  Hebrews  is  the  word  x^pakTi^p,  which 
simply  means  an  exact  copy,  or  an  engraving.  Thus  it 
will  be  seen  that  both  in  Old  and  New  Testaments,  the 
expression  suggests  a  definite  resemblance,  rather  than  an 
exact  representation,  except  where,  as  already  indicated  in 
the  letter  to  the  Hebrews,  the  language  is  descriptive  of 
Christ  in  such  aspect  of  His  Person  as  is  peculiar  to  Him- 
self, and  in  which  men  by  original  creation  have  no  par- 
ticipation. 

Passing  over  these  Scriptures  again,  let  the  progression 
of  thought  be  noted  carefully.  In  the  account  of  creation, 
it  is  affirmed  that  man  was  in  some  respect  a  shadow  or 
manifestation  of  God.  Here  are  two  ideas,  arresting 
thought,  and  not  to  be  forgotten  in  the  subsequent  discussion. 
First,  man  is  but  a  faint  representation,  a  shadow  merely ; 
and  secondly,  the  very  dignity  of  his  being  lies  in  the  fact 
that  he  is  even  so  much  as  that.  Perhaps  the  simplest 
exposition  of  the  thought  would  be  gained  by  a  contempla- 
tion of  the  shadow  of  a  man  cast  upon  some  white  back- 
ground, by  the  shining  of  a  great  light.  What  the  shadow 
would  be  to  the  man,  the  man  would  be  to  God.  Like 
and  unlike,  suggesting  an  idea,  but  by  no  means  explaining 
the  mystery,  impossible  apart  from  the  substance,  and  yet 
infinitely  less    in    essence   than   the  substance.     Man  no 


26  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

more  perfectly  expresses  all  the  facts  concerning  God, 
than  does  the  shadow  those  concerning  man.  Neverthe- 
less the  shadow  is  the  image  of  the  man,  and  indicates 
truth  concerning  him. 

This  expression  never  occurs  in  the  Old  Testament  after 
the  account  of  creation,  save  when  in  the  ninth  chapter  of 
the  book  of  Genesis,  man  is  safeguarded  from  murder,  the 
reason  given  being  that  no  man  has  a  right  to  destroy  that 
which  was  made  in  the  Divine  image.  By  the  act  of  sin, 
the  image  and  likeness  of  God  in  man  was  not  destroyed 
but  defaced,  and  in  all  the  history,  contained  in  Old  Testa- 
ment Scripture,  is  seen  a  degraded  ideal. 

Turning  to  the  New  Testament,  after  the  completion  of 
the  work  of  Christ,  the  expression  is  restored  in  the  writ- 
ings of  the  apostle.  In  the  Scripture  first  quoted,  he  is 
evidently  referring  to  man  as  to  the  original  Divine  inten- 
tion concerning  him,  and  he  speaks  of  him  as  the  "  image 
and  glory  of  God."  In  the  second  reference  he  uses  the 
expression  of  Christ,  as  the  One  Who  has  realized  that 
primal  Divine  intention,  and  in  Colossians  he  declares 
that  the  original  Divine  ideal  may  be  restored  through  the 
work  of  Christ.  In  Hebrews,  where  it  has  been  shown, 
the  word  is  a  far  stronger  one,  it  is  used  of  Christ,  Who  is 
infinitely  more  than  a  shadow  of  God,  seeing  that  He  is 
**the  effulgence  of  His  glory,  and  the  very  image  of  His 
substance."  ^ 

Having  thus  examined  the  Scriptures,  and  the  use  of 
the  phrase  therein,  it  may  be  enquired.  In  what  sense  was 
man  created  in  the  image  of  God  ?  The  answer  to  the 
enquiry  may  be  found,  by  suggesting  another  question. 
What  is  man  essentially,  for  it  is  in  his  essential  nature  that 
he  is  in  the  image  of  God  ?  Man  essentially  is  spirit,  his 
1  Heb.  1 :  3. 


Man  Distanced  from  God  by  Sin  27 

present  body  being  his  probational  dwelling  place,  that 
through  which  he  receives  impressions,  and  that  through 
which  he  expresses  the  fact  of  his  own  being.  In  his 
letter  to  the  Romans  the  apostle  says,  "  I  beseech  you 
therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  to  present  your 
bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  to  God,  which  is 
your  spiritual  service."  ^  The  marginal  reading  of  the 
Revised  Version  changes  the  word  "  service  "  into  "  wor- 
ship," and  therein  lies  a  revelation  of  the  true  relation  of 
the  spirit  of  man  to  his  body.  Through  the  medium  of 
the  body,  the  truth  concerning  the  spirit  expresses  itself. 
Where  the  body  is  presented,  it  is  presented  by  the  spirit, 
and  through  this  devotion  of  the  body,  the  spirit  expresses 
its  worship.  The  essential  fact  in  man  therefore  is  his 
spirit,  and  it  is  in  spiritual  essence  that  man  is  made  in  the 
image  of  God.  There  are  secondary  senses  in  which  even 
in  bodily  form,  man  is  a  shadow  of  Deity.  As  the  body 
of  man  is  the  expression  of  his  spirit,  and  the  spirit  is  the 
image  of  God,  so  through  the  tabernacle  of  man's  spirit 
there  are  made  certain  suggestions  concerning  God  Him- 
self. 

The  present  study  however,  is  confined  to  the  essen- 
tial fact.  Within  the  spiritual  fact  of  man's  being 
there  are  three  constituents.  These  have  been  variously 
described.  Perhaps  at  once  the  simplest  and  most  lucid 
analysis  is  that  of  Kant.  He  speaks  of  intelligence, 
emotion,  and  will.  It  is  in  the  possession  of  these  things 
that  man  is  in  the  image  of  God.  God  is  a  Spirit,  having 
intelligence,  having  emotion,  having  will.  Man  is  in  the 
shadow  of  God.  He  also  is  a  spirit,  having  intelligence, 
having  emotion,  having  will.  In  all  these  things  he  is  but 
a  shadow,  that  is  to  say,  there  are  limitations  upon  these 

'  Rom.  12:1. 


28  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

facts  ill  human  nature,  which  in  the  Divine  arc  illimitable, 
and  consequently  not  to  be  perfectly  understood  of  men. 
It  has  been  objected  to  the  doctrine  of  the  personality  of 
God  that  the  thought  of  personality  implies  limitation. 
This,  however,  is  to  argue  from  a  false  hypothesis.  Per- 
fect personality  is  unlimited,  so  that  personality  is  only 
perfect  in  God,  and  is  imperfect  in  man.  In  God  intel- 
ligence is  unlimited,  emotion  is  unlimited,  will  is  unlimited. 
In  man  all  these  facts  are  found,  but  in  each  case  within 
limitations.  He  does  not  know  all  things,  his  intelligence 
being^  limited,  his  emotional  nature  also  can  only  act  within 
comparatively  narrow  limitations,  and  the  exercise  of  his 
will  is  limited  by  the  demand  for  a  cause,  which  is  never 
perfectly  found  within  himself. 

Man  as  originally  created,  was  not  only  in  the  image  of 
God.  He  was  also  made  to  live  in  union  with  God,  so 
that  all  his  limitation  might  find  its  complement  in  the  un- 
limited life  of  the  Eternal.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  think 
of  man  as  made,  and  then  put  into  some  position,  where 
he  might  rise  or  fall,  according  to  the  capacity  of  his  own 
personality.  It  is  rather  to  be  remembered  that  he  was 
created  in  the  image  of  God,  and  then  put  in  the  proba- 
tionary position  through  which  he  was  to  pass  unharmed  to 
some  larger  form  of  existence,  if  his  life  were  lived  in 
union  with  the  God  Who  had  created  him.  If  however  he 
chose  a  separate  existence,  and  cut  himself  off  from  union, 
in  that  act,  he  would  encompass  h'u  own  ruin,  he  would 
fall. 

This  intended  life  of  union  with  God  may  be  described 
in  two  ways,  as  personal  fellowship,  which  is  holiness  of 
character;  and  as  cobperative  activity,  which  is  righteous- 
ness of  conduct.  For  a  full  understanding  of  what  this 
meant,  it  is  useless  to  tarry  in  the  garden  of  Eden.     There, 


Man  Distanced  from  God  by  Sin  29 

in  the  account  of  creation,  a  faint  suggestion  is  given  of 
the  Divine  intention.  It  is  necessary,  however,  to  come 
to  the  last  Adam,  the  Man  Jesus,  for  a  full  appreciation  of 
this  Divine  intention.  In  Him  unbroken  fellowship  with 
the  Father  manifested  itself  in  holiness  of  character,  and 
unceasing  cooperation  with  God  expressed  itself  in  absolute 
righteousness  of  conduct. 

In  order  to  an  appreciation  of  the  meaning  of  fellowship 
with  God  there  must  be  remembered  the  analysis  of  per- 
sonality already  referred  to,  intelligence,  emotion,  and  will. 
In  unfallen  man  the  limited  intelligence  was  nevertheless 
enlightened,  and  was  able  to  understand  the  things  of  God. 
Limited  emotion  was  nevertheless  enkindled  towards  the 
things  thus  known,  and  man  loved  God  and  all  He  loved. 
The  limited  will  was  yet  energized  by  the  superior  and 
Infinite  Will  of  God,  and  so  chose  ever  the  things  that 
were  in  harmony  with  that  Will.  Thus  in  unfallen  man 
there  was  to  be  found  enlightened  intelligence,  enkindled 
emotion,  energized  will,  wholly  within  the  realm  of  the 
Divine  Sovereignty. 

Then  beyond  that  personal  fellowship,  there  was  coopera- 
tive activity,  which  is  righteousness  of  conduct.  And 
again  the  analysis  of  personality  may  be  taken  as  the  basis 
of  consideration.  All  activity  is  the  outward  expression  of 
an  inward  intelligence.  The  enlightened  intelligence  of 
unfallen  man,  appreciating  the  things  of  God,  the  deeds  of 
the  life  of  such  a  being  were  in  perfect  harmony  with  the 
purposes  of  God.  The  emotional  nature  of  such  a  being, 
appreciating  and  loving  the  things  of  God,  became  the 
spring  from  which  streams  of  action  emerged,  which  were 
all  moving  in  the  Divine  direction.  In  such  a  being  the 
will  exercised  its  highest  function  in  choosing  the  things  of 
God,  and  the  activities  of  the  life  were  therefore  always 


30  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

those  of  partnership  with  the  enterprises  of  God.  The 
old  word  spoken  to  the  father  of  the  race  was  "  have 
dominion."  In  the  midst  of  a  wondrous  creation  God  set 
man.  The  creation  in  which  man  found  himself  had  not 
yet  realized  all  the  possibilities  of  its  own  being.  It  waited 
the  touch  of  man  in  cooperation  with  God  for  that  realiza- 
tion. God  put  man  into  a  garden  to  dress  it,  and  to  keep 
it.  The  preparation  of  man's  work  was  of  God,  the  crea- 
tion of  the  worker  was  of  God,  there  was  perfect  fitness 
between  the  work  to  be  done,  and  the  workman  prepared, 
and  while  man  lived  in  fellowship  with  God,  and  co- 
operated with  God,  all  creation  recognized  his  leadership, 
yielded  to  his  dominion,  and  moved  along  the  line  of  a  new 
progress  towards  a  yet  more  wondrous  beauty  and  per- 
fection. 

These  truths  are  yet  evidenced  by  the  power  of  man 
even  in  a  fallen  condition.  All  the  cultivation  of  flowers, 
all  the  inventions  of  science,  are  in  the  last  analysis,  but 
man's  cooperation  with  God,  issuing  in  new  forms  of 
beauty,  and  fresh  forces  of  utility.  A  very  simple  illustra- 
tion in  floral  culture  is  that  of  the  chrysanthemum.  But  a 
very  few  years  ago  it  was  looked  upon  as  an  old-fashioned 
garden  flower,  very  sweet,  but  very  simple.  To-day  it  is 
one  of  the  most  gorgeous  and  marvellous  of  decorative 
blossoms,  so  beautiful  in  the  length  and  delicacy  of  its  petals, 
so  poetic  in  its  restless  waviness  of  beauty,  and  so  splendid 
in  its  possibility  of  colour,  that  it  has  well  been  de- 
scribed as  "  a  rose  gone  wild  with  joy."  '  The  possibility 
of  this  beauty  always  lay  within  the  modest  garden  flower, 
and  the  development  thereof  has  been  wholly  due  to  man's 
discovery  of  certain  laws  of  Nature,  which  laws  are  ever 
the  thoughts  of  God. 

1  Dr.  Joseph  Parker. 


Man  Distanced  from  God  by  Sin  31 

So  also  in  the  realm  of  scientific  discovery.  Let  a  map 
of  the  world  be  taken,  and  let  the  hand  be  placed  upon  the 
centres  where  such  discoveries  have  been  made,  and  it  will 
invariably  be  found  that  the  hand  is  resting  on  a  land  where 
the  light  of  the  Christian  revelation  has  most  brightly 
shined.  These  things  but  go  to  prove  that  it  is  in  coopera- 
tion with  God  that  man  is  capable  of  highest  activity,  be- 
cause in  cooperation  with  God  he  realizes  the  perfection  of 
character.  Unfallen  man,  then,  was  a  being  like  God,  in 
the  essentials  of  his  nature,  in  that  he  was  a  spirit  having 
intelligence,  emotion,  and  will.  Unfallen  man  realized  the 
highest  possibility  of  his  being  in  a  life  of  personal  fellow- 
ship and  cooperative  activity  with  God. 

There  yet  remains  one  other  fact  to  remember,  concern- 
ing the  unfallen  condition  of  man.  He  was  placed  in  cir- 
cumstances of  probation.  That  is  to  say,  the  citadel  of 
his  nature  was  his  will.  It  was  for  him  to  choose  whether 
he  would  abide  in  that  relation  to  God,  which  would  en- 
sure his  fullest  realization  of  possibility,  or  whether  he 
would  by  severance  from  God  encompass  his  own  ruin.  It 
was  a  terrible  and  awful  alternative.  Yet  unless  it  were 
offered  to  man,  the  highest  fact  of  his  being  would  be 
atrophied,  for  will  power,  having  no  choice,  ceases  to  be  of 
value.  Thus  in  the  garden  of  his  activity  God  marked  the 
limit  of  his  possibility  by  two  sacramental  symbols.  Both 
were  trees.  The  one  was  the  tree  of  life,  of  which  he  was 
commanded  to  eat.  The  other  was  the  tree  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  good  and  evil,  which  was  forbidden.  Between 
these  lay  an  endless  variety  of  which  he  might  or  might 
not  eat,  as  pleased  himself.  Of  the  tree  of  life  he  must 
eat,  and  thus  he  was  reminded,  in  a  positive  symbol,  of  his 
dependence  for  the  sustenance  of  his  being  upon  God.  Of 
the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  he  was  for- 


32  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

bidden  to  eat,  and  thus  he  was  reminded  of  the  limitation 
of  his  freedom  within  the  government  of  God,  Finite  will 
is  to  be  tested,  and  it  will  stand  or  fall  as  it  submits  to,  or 
rebels  against  the  Infinite  Will  of  the  Infinite  God.  Thus 
unfallen  man  was  a  being  created  in  the  image  of  God, 
living  in  union  with  God,  cooperating  in  activity  with  God, 
having  the  points  of  the  limitation  of  his  being  marked  by 
simple  and  definite  commands  laid  upon  him,  gracious  prom- 
ises luring  him  to  that  which  was  highest  on  the  one  hand,  and 
a  solemn  sentence  warning  him  from  that  which  was  lowest 
on  the  other.  He  was  a  sovereign  under  a  Sovereignty, 
independent,  but  dependent.  He  had  the  right  of  will,  but 
this  could  only  be  perfectly  exercised  in  perpetual  submis- 
sion to  the  higher  will  of  his  God.  The  whole  fact  is 
summarized  concerning  essential  human  nature  in  the  ex- 
quisite couplet, 

"  Our  wills  are  ours,  we  know  not  how  ; 

Our  wills  are  ours  to  make  them  Thine,"  ' 

II.  In  considering  the  Bible  account  of  the  fall  of  man, 
it  is  necessary  first  to  note  carefully  the  process  of  his  temp- 
tation. In  the  story  of  Genesis  is  clearly  revealed  the  great 
distinction  between  testing  and  tempting.  Man's  position 
in  the  economy  of  God  was  one  in  which  he  was  in  the 
place  of  testing.  That  testing  became  definite  enticement 
towards  evil  through  the  agency  of  evil  already  existing, 
and  expressing  itself  through  its  prince,  the  devil.  The 
method  of  the  enemy  was  full  of  all  subtlety.  He  first 
asked  a  question  which  was  calculated  to  create  the  sense 
of  restricted  liberty,  and  so  cast  an  aspersion  on  the  good- 
ness of  God.  To  paraphrase  the  question,  he  said.  In 
this  garden  is  there  some  tree  forbidden  to  you  ?  Are  you 
'  Tennyson. 


Man  Distanced  from  God  by  Sin  33 

at  any  point  of  your  will  limited  and  restricted  ?  The 
answer  of  the  woman  admitted  the  limitation,  a  limitation 
which  certainly  existed.  Then  the  very  essence  of  evil  is 
seen  in  the  interpretation  of  that  limitation.  Whereas  the 
limitation  in  the  purpose  of  God  was  wholly  beneficent, 
and  intended  to  hold  man  within  the  only  sphere  in  which 
he  could  make  progress  towards  the  largest  and  fullest  pos- 
sibility of  his  being ;  the  enemy  suggested  that  it  was  im- 
posed by  a  desire  on  the  part  of  God  to  keep  man  from 
progress  and  enlargement  of  capacity.  Thus  it  is  seen  that 
at  the  back  of  the  method  of  the  devil  is  an  aspersion  cast 
upon  the  character  of  God.  Man  was  made  to  question 
the  goodness  of  law.  Appealing  to  the  intelligence  of 
man,  the  enemy  created  an  aspersion,  which  was  calculated 
to  change  the  attitude  of  his  emotion,  and  so  capture  the 
final  citadel,  that  namely,  of  his  will.  He  declared  that 
man's  intellectual  nature  was  prevented  from  development 
by  this  limitation.  By  this  declaration  he  created  in  the 
mind  of  man  a  question  as  to  the  goodness  of  the  God  Who 
had  made  the  law,  and  thus  imperilled  the  relation  of  the 
will  to  God,  as  he  called  it  into  a  place  of  activity  outside, 
and  contrary  to,  the  will  of  God. 

Then  came  the  actual  fall,  and  its  essential  characteristic 
was  that  of  independent  action.  The  wisdom  and  the  love 
of  God  having  been  called  into  question,  man  instead  of 
taking  counsel  with  Him,  concerning  this  suggestion  of  evil, 
acted  independently,  and  in  that  act  of  self-separation  from 
God,  he  fell  from  the  sphere  in  which  it  was  possible  to  re- 
alize all  the  infinite  meaning  of  his  being,  into  that  of  utter 
and  irremedial  ruin.  All  the  rivers  that  have  made  sad  the 
life  of  man,  had  their  source  in  this  turning  of  the  will  of  man 
from  its  proper  channel,  that  of  community  of  action  with 
the  will  of  God,  into  the  channelless  rush  of  undetermined 


34  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

and  ungoverned  activity.  By  taking  of  the  fruit  of  the  for- 
bidden tree,  man  desecrated  the  sacramental  symbol,  be- 
cause he  had  departed  from  that  sphere  of  life  of  which  the 
non-partaking  tree  was  the  confine.  By  the  assertion  of 
his  own  will  he  dethroned  God  and  enthroned  himself. 
Man  as  to  spiritual  essence  sinned  when  listening  to  the 
tempter,  he  doubted  the  love,  and  decided  to  act  as  against 
the  will  of  God.  That  inward  and  spiritual  fall  of  man 
found  its  expression  in  the  overt  act  of  taking  that  which 
God  had  forbidden. 

III.  The  issue  of  the  act  is  revealed  in  the  words  "  so 
He  drove  out  the  man."  ^  Man  by  his  own  decision  and  deed 
has  separated  himself  from  God.  God  by  the  necessity  of 
the  being  created,  judicially  separates  man  from  Himself. 
Having  violated  the  covenant  man  is  put  outside  its  bene- 
fits. The  life  of  dependence  upon  God  was  the  life  of 
union  and  cooperation  with  God.  Man  having  chosen  the 
position  of  independence,  is  now  cut  off  from  union  and 
cooperation.  To  say  this,  is  to  declare  that  by  his  own  act, 
man  has  become  separated  from  that  fellowship  with  God 
which  constitutes  his  holiness  of  character;  and  from  that 
cooperation  with  God,  which  is  the  condition  of  righteous- 
ness of  conduct.  He  has  passed  into  a  region  where  the 
essential  powers  of  his  being  can  find  no  fitting  field  of  op- 
eration. He  retains  the  essential  facts  of  his  being,  but 
they  cannot  be  perfected,  because  they  have  lost  their  true 
sphere.  Henceforward  his  intelligence  must  be  bounded 
by  its  own  limitation,  as  it  is  severed  from  the  Infinite 
Knowledge.  So  also  his  emotion  must  become  dwarfed  as 
to  capacity,  because  it  has  lost  its  perfect  object  in  the  loss 
of  God.  His  will,  a  magnificent  ruin,  will  perpetually  at- 
•  Gen.  3 :  24. 


Man  Distanced  from  God  by  Sin  35 

tempt  to  secure  mastership,  and  yet  will  never  succeed,  be- 
cause it  has  lost  its  own  true  spring  of  action,  and  its  own 
Master.  Man  distanced  from  God  has  not  lost  the  powers 
of  his  original  creation  ;  he  has  lost  the  true  sphere  of  their 
exercise.  His  intelligence  is  darkened,  his  emotion  is  dead- 
ened, his  will  is  degraded.  Darkened  intelligence  hence- 
forth will  see  only  the  things  that  are  near.  The  spacious- 
ness of  the  spiritual  condition  has  ceased,  and  man  will 
look  at  material  things  in  a  semi-blindness,  which  is  at  once 
tragic  and  pathetic.  Deadened  emotion,  a  heaven-born 
capacity,  will  attempt  to  satisfy  itself  wholly  within  the 
realm  of  the  earth,  and  love  being  set  wholly  upon  the 
things  material,  will  forever  be  wounded  in  their  loss.  De- 
graded will,  ever  attempting  to  be  authoritative,  masterful, 
will  always  be  thwarted,  beaten,  overcome.  Out  of  this 
dire  and  desolate  ruin,  God  hears  the  call  for  a  Deliverer. y/ 


II 

MAN  IGNORANT  OF  GOD  THROUGH  SIN 

While  the  attack  of  evil  was  directed  finally  towards  the 
capture  of  human  will,  the  method  of  approach  was  that 
of  suggesting  the  possibility  of  a  development  of  the 
intellect.  By  the  assertion  of  the  right  to  exercise  the 
will  outside  all  limitation,  it  was  declared  that  man  should 
know.  In  his  attempt  to  grasp  knowledge,  man  alienated 
himself  from  the  light  of  fellowship  with  God,  and  thus 
his  intelligence  was  darkened  and  dwarfed,  rather  than  en- 
lightened and  enlarged.  The  result  of  this  is  so  far  reach- 
ing in  the  being  of  man,  that  it  is  important  to  devote 
a  chapter  to  the  discussion  of  the  fact  of  man's  ignorance 
of  God,  resulting  from  sin.  In  order  to  a  proper  under- 
standing of  this,  there  must  be  a  correct  conception  of 
man's  original  capacity  for  the  knowledge  of  God ;  and 
secondly,  an  understanding  of  the  injury  that  happened 
to  this  capacity ;  in  order  that  thirdly,  there  may  be  an  ex- 
planation of  the  idolatry  which  resulted. 

I.  In  dealing  with  man's  capacity  for  God,  the  thought 
again  gathers  round  the  threefold  fact  of  his  personality, 
that  as  to  spiritual  essence,  man  has  intelligence,  emotion, 
and  will,  these  being  but  a  shadowing  forth  of  the  Divine 
personality.  These  three  facts  in  man  are  interrelated, 
so  that  the  appreciation  of  the  intelligence  will  determine 
the  action  of  the  emotion,  and  finally  also  the  attitude 
of  the  will.     In  the  first  Divine  intention  the  intelligence 

36 


Man  Ignorant  Through  Sin  37 

of  man  is  capacity  for  the  knowledge  of  God.  It  would 
seem  as  though  in  the  whole  creation,  man  is  the  only 
being  to  whom  God  could  perfectly  reveal  Himself,  and 
this  fact  defines  the  dignity  of  human  nature.  In  this  con- 
nection a  statement  in  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel  of  John 
has  to  be  carefully  noted.  *'  In  the  beginning  was  the 
Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word 
was  God.  The  same  was  in  the  beginning  with  God.  All 
things  were  made  through  Him ;  and  without  Him  was 
not  anything  made  that  hath  been  made.  In  Him  was 
life;  and  the  life  was  the  light  of  men."  ^  The  decla- 
ration, "in  Him  was  life,"  is  a  general  and  comprehensive 
one,  declaring  that  all  forms  of  life  are  related  to  the  living 
Word.  The  announcement  that  "  the  life  was  the  light 
of  men,"  is  a  particular  declaration  revealing  an  essential 
truth  concerning  the  nature  of  man.  This  cannot  be  said 
concerning  the  life  of  any  plant,  nor  of  animal  life,  until 
in  the  scale  of  being  man  is  reached.  In  man  life  became 
consciousness  of  God,  and  capacity  for  the  understanding 
of  Him.  This  statement  of  John  of  course  has  far  wider  ap- 
plication. It  certainly  indicates  the  truth  that  perfect  light 
concerning  manhood  has  shined  in  the  Word  Incarnate, 
but  as  Jesus  was  the  fulfillment  of  an  original  purpose,  it 
becomes  evident  that  according  to  that  purpose,  man  is 
capable  of  intelligent  appreciation  of,  and  communion  with, 
God.  The  whole  process  of  creation  was  carried  forward 
through  the  Word  of  the  Eternal,  and  every  form  of  life 
exists  and  subsists  through  the  energy  of  that  Word.  In 
man  however,  life  was  first  of  such  a  nature  as  to  compre- 
hend the  Creator.  In  the  writings  of  the  apostle  Paul  it 
is  evident  how  he  perpetually  recognizes  as  one  of  the 
most  glorious  results  of  the  redemption  of  man,  the  fact 
'John  1 :  1-4. 


38  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

that  there  is  restored  to  him  the  knowledge  of  God. 
Especially  in  the  epistles  of  the  imprisonment,  when  writing 
to  the  churches  of  his  love,  he  thanks  God  for  their  faith, 
for  their  hope,  for  their  love,  but  still  is  labouring  for 
them  in  prayer;  and  the  overmastering  desire  that  he 
has  for  them  is  that  they  may  come  to  the  full  knowledge 
of  God.  In  the  creation  of  man,  God  originated  a  being 
capable  of  knowing  Him.  For  the  comprehension  of 
wisdom  there  must  be  intelligence,  and  in  man  God  created 
an  intellect  equal  to  such  wonderful  knowledge. 

To  know  God  is  to  know  love,  and  to  know  love 
is  to  love.  Hence  man  is  created  with  an  emotional 
nature,  ready  to  act  in  response  to  knowledge.  The 
apostle  of  love  declares,  "  we  love,  because  He  first  loved 
us."  ^  Herein  is  a  declaration  of  the  origin  of  love  in  the 
consciousness  of  man.  Man  knowing  God  is  conscious 
of  His  love,  and  that  love  of  God  is  the  generator  of  the 
love  of  man.  The  accurate  knowledge  of  unclouded 
intelligence,  inevitably  issues  in  the  perfect  love  of  un- 
degraded  emotion.  Such  knowledge  issuing  in  such  love, 
creates  the  true  governing  principle  for  the  action  of  the 
supreme  fact  of  human  life,  that  namely  of  the  will. 

The  doctrine  of  the  freedom  of  the  will  is  itself  only 
true  within  certain  limitations.  There  is  a  sense  in  which 
in  the  very  nature  of  will  it  cannot  be  free.  Only  in  lack 
of  reason,  or  madness,  is  there  perfect  freedom  of  the  will. 
Man  never  wills  save  under  the  impulse  of  a  conviction. 
Behind  every  decision  of  the  will  there  must  of  necessity  be 
a  governing  principle.  Man  constantly  asserts,  I  will. 
He  never  does  this,  but  that  he  might  add  to  the  statement 
something  more.  He  might,  that  is  to  say,  declare  the 
reason  why  he  wills,  so  that  the  full  statement  is  always,  I 
'  I  John  4 :  19. 


Man  Ignorant  Through  Sin  39 

will  because .     That  which  follows  the  because,  is  the 

authority  that  commands  the  will.  In  unfallen  man  the 
authority  behind  will  is  the  love  of  God,  which  is  the  out- 
come of  a  perfect  knowledge  of  God.  Thus  the  perfect 
activity  of  the  will  of  man  is  always  conditioned  by  sub- 
mission to  the  will  of  God.  Herein  is  a  revelation  of  the 
meaning  of  much  that  Jesus  said  concerning  His  relation 
to  His  Father,  and  an  explanation  of  all  that  He  was  in  per- 
fection of  character,  in  wisdom  of  teaching,  and  in  beauty 
of  activity. 

To  this  it  may  be  objected  that  while  this  is  true  of  hu- 
man will,  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  Divine  will  is  under 
authority ;  and  yet,  that  the  very  will  of  God  is  acting 
under  an  authority,  is  precisely  the  truth.  The  principle 
governing  the  movements  of  the  will  of  God,  is  that  of  the 
perfect  communion  of  Infinite  Love  and  Infinite  Light. 
In  the  very  essential  of  His  being,  God  is  Love.  It 
is  equally  true  that  He  is  Light,  so  that  every  action  of  the 
will  is  determined  by  Love,  and  by  the  unerring  wisdom 
of  Light.  Thus  let  it  be  definitely  stated  that  God 
is  limited  in  every  action  of  His  will  by  unlimited  Love 
and  that  unclouded  Light,  in  which  no  darkness  is.  Thus 
unfallen  man  wills  in  response  to  love,  which  is  the  result 
of  knowledge. 

II.  In  this  consideration  lies  an  explanation  of  the 
method  of  the  enemy.  When  man,  listening  to  his  sug- 
gestion of  evil,  asserted  his  will,  it  was  upon  the  basis  of  a 
doubt  of  the  Divine  Love,  which  he  had  allowed  himself  to 
entertain.  By  that  act  of  self  separation  from  God,  man 
lost  the  knowledge  of  God,  which  issues  in  love  to  God, 
and  creates  the  true  governing  principle  behind  the  action 
of    will.       Distance    from    God    means    the    clouding   of 


40  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

the  intelligence,  and  therefore  the  debasement  of  the 
emotion,  and  therefore  the  degradation  of  the  will.  The 
fact  that  man's  intelligence  is  clouded  is  by  no  means 
a  popular  doctrine,  and  yet  human  history,  equally  with  in- 
spired revelation,  attest  the  truth  of  the  declaration. 
Through  all  the  ages,  and  through  all  the  schools  of  human 
thought,  man  has  been  engaged  in  a  fruitless  search  after  a 
final  knowledge.  Too  often  man  is  utterly  unconscious 
of  what  that  knowledge  is  after  which  he  seeks,  and  yet  the 
restlessness  of  human  intellect,  and  its  passionate  striving, 
indicate  its  incompleteness,  and  its  deep  consciousness 
of  that  incompleteness.  Zophar  the  Naamathite,  speaking 
to  Job  said, 

"  Canst  thou  by  searching  find  out  God  ? 
Canst  thou  find  out  the  Almighty  unto  perfection  ?  " ' 

A  most  remarkable  question  in  perhaps  the  oldest  book  in 
the  Divine  Library,  indicating  the  consciousness  of  incom- 
pleteness existing  among  the  meditative  men  of  a  far  gone 
age.  Yet  take  that  question  and  ask  it  in  the  midst  of  the 
vaunted  culture  of  this  century,  and  the  implied  answer  of 
the  age  in  which  Zophar  asked,  is  the  actual  answer  of  the 
present  age.  Man  does  not  know,  nor  can  he  discover 
God  by  the  unaided  working  of  his  intellect,  and  that  be- 
cause his  intellect  is  clouded,  having  lost  its  action  with  the 
true  light.  The  hardest  thinking  of  the  nineteenth  century 
was  done  in  its  latter  half,  by  men,  who,  in  comparison 
with  other  men,  were  intellectual  giants.  Let  it  be  granted, 
as  it  is  almost  certainly  true,  that  they  were  honest  in  their 
searching,  and  the  names  of  them  will  be  sufficient  guaran- 
tee, Darwin,  Huxley,  Tyndal,  and  Spencer.  They  ob- 
served, they  collected,  they  compared,  they  laboured  to 
'  Job.  11:7. 


Man  Ignorant  Through  Sin  41 

discover  the  deepest  secrets,  and  yet  what  were  the  con- 
clusions at  which  they  arrived  ?  They  claimed  to  have 
found,  and  declared,  a  certain  method  discoverable  through 
all  natural  phenomena.  They  were  not  able  perfectly  to 
explain  the  very  method  which  they  discovered,  much  less 
were  they  able  to  account  for  the  method  as  to  its  origin. 

Spencer  speaks  of  being  "  in  the  presence  of  an  infinite 
and  eternal  energy  from  which  all  things  proceed."  That 
in  itself  is  a  very  remarkable  discovery,  and  yet  how 
vague,  and  inadequate  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  passion  of 
the    human   intellect   for   definiteness   and   absolute   truth. 

What  then  have  these  men  found,  if  these  things  be  true. 
They  have  found  certain  evidences  of  the  working  of  God, 
have  discovered  it  may  be,  certain  attributes  of  Deity,  but 
they  have  not  by  searching  found  out  God.  So  that  the 
most  remarkable  activity  of  the  human  intellect  in  the  most 
enlightened  century  of  the  human  race,  stops  short  exactly 
where  man's  clouded  intellect  stopped  short  in  those  dim 
and  distant  times  of  Zophar  the  Naamathite.  Man 
watches  still,  and  in  his  searching  tracks  the  footprints  of 
Deity,  sees  something  of  the  methods  of  the  Divine,  but 
utterly  fails  to  find  God.  And  yet  for  an  intimate  and 
immediate  knowledge  of  God  the  intellect  of  man  was 
created. 

III.  Man  is  a  ruined  instrument.  He  nevertheless  re- 
tains, though  in  impaired  form,  the  natural  elements  which 
constitute  the  Divine  image.  There  is  therefore  a  constant 
demand  in  his  nature  for  that  for  which  he  was  created. 
Intelligence  is  still  demanding  light.  Emotion  continues 
to  seek  for  objects  upon  which  to  fasten.  Will  requires  a 
governing  principle,  in  brief,  man  demands  God.  Having 
lost  his  knowledge  of  God,  he  proceeded  to  substitute  in 


42  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

the  place  of  the  dethroned  One,  other  deities.  It  is  un- 
thinkable and  impossible  that  human  nature  should  exist 
without  a  god  in  some  form.  The  most  blatant  infidel, 
denying  the  existence  of  a  Supreme  Being,  yet  worships ; 
and  where  there  is  no  other  object,  then  man  enshrines  his 
own  intellect,  bows  down  before  that,  declaring  that  he 
will  receive  and  yield  to  the  things  he  can  comprehend, 
thus  making  his  understanding  the  very  deity  that  receives 
his  worship.  As  a  bird  cannot  fly  except  in  air,  and  a  fish 
cannot  swim  save  in  water,  so  man  cannot  exercise  the 
necessary  functions  of  his  life  save  in  relation  to  God. 

When  man  is  thus  driven  to  the  dire  necessity  of  creat- 
ing his  own  deity,  there  is  but  one  way  in  which  he  can  do 
it.  The  only  conception  of  God  that  man  has,  is  gathered 
from  an  understanding  of  his  own  personality.  This  is 
true  even  in  the  case  of  the  most  devout  believer.  It  is 
almost  impossible  to  think  of  God  save  by  projecting  the 
lines  of  human  personality  into  infinitude,  and  this  is  the 
true  method.  The  last  and  highest  fact  of  Divine  creation 
is  the  spiritual  in  man,  and  that  is  in  the  image  of  God. 
Therefore  it  is  possible  to  argue  back  from  the  final  crea- 
tive movement  to  the  originating  Creator.  If  man  is  the 
image  of  God,  he  is  like  God ;  and  that  is  at  once  to  say 
that  God  is  like  man.  The  intelligehce  of  Deity  is  argued 
from  the  intelligence  of  man,  so  that  man,  projecting  the 
lines  of  his  own  intelligence  into  immensity,  thinks  of  God. 
This  is  true  also  with  regard  to  emotion,  and  with  regard 
to  will. 

This  creation  of  a  god  upon  the  basis  of  man's  knowledge 
of  himself,  lies  at  the  back  of  the  whole  story  of  idolatry. 
From  whence  then  has  come  all  the  ignorance  and  brutal- 
ity, and  vindictiveness  of  false  gods  ?  Evidently  from  the 
fact  that  the  lines  projected  were  in  themselves  imperfect. 


Man   Ignorant  Through  Sin  43 

Project  the  ruined  man  into  immensity,  and  a  ruined  god 
is  the  result,  only  the  ruin  is  worse  than  the  ruined  man. 
In  the  magnified  man  there  is  magnified  evil  and  intensified 
failure.  That  is  the  history  of  all  idolatry.  Man  having 
fallen,  demanded  a  god,  and  having  lost  the  know^ledge  of 
the  true  God,  has  projected  into  immensity  the  lines  of  his 
ow^n  personality,  and  thus  has  created  as  objects  of  w^orship, 
the  av^^ful  monsters,  the  service  of  which,  in  process  of 
time,  has  reacted  in  the  still  deeper  degradation  of  the  wor- 
shipper. All  false  deities  are  distortions  of  the  one  true 
God,  and  the  distorted  idea  is  the  result  of  the  ruin  of  the 
image  of  God  in  man. 

Referring  to  the  idolatry  of  Ephraim,  the  prophet  Hosea 
declared,  "  And  now  they  sin  more  and  more,  and  have 
made  them  molten  images  of  their  silver,  even  idols  accord- 
ing to  their  own  understanding,  all  of  them  the  work  of  the 
craftsman."^  "Idols  according  to  their  own  understand- 
ing." That  understanding  being  darkened,  the  idol  re- 
sulting was  a  libel  upon  God. 

With  regard  to  idolatry,  it  may  broadly  be  stated  that  the 
Old  Testament  reveals  three  great  ideas  of  God  embodied 
within  the  false  systems  of  religion,  all  of  them  based  upon 
a  truth,  but  in  the  distortion  of  truth  resulting  most  dis- 
astrously. These  three  ideas  may  be  indicated  by  the  three 
words,  Baal,  Moloch,  and  Mammon.  All  false  ideas  of 
Deity  gather  around  those  words.  Other  gods  are  men- 
tioned, but  they  are  all  subsidiary,  and  stand  for  some  as- 
pect or  attitude  of  these  essential  misconceptions. 

These  ideas  moreover,  have  by  no  means  ceased  to  be 
the  gods  which  men  worship.  The  form  of  the  worship 
may  have  changed,  and  the  garb  of  the  idol  may  be  differ- 
ent, but  all  else  remains  the  same.  Every  human  being 
^  Hosea  13:2. 


44  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

who  is  not  worshipping  the  One  living  God,  is  worshipping 
Baal,  or  Moloch,  or  Mammon,  or  all  three. 

The  worship  of  Baal  was  essentially  the  deification  of 
Nature,  and  in  that  deification  there  comes  at  last  to  be 
necessary  the  worship  of  the  central  and  most  marvellous 
fact  in  Nature.  That  fact  is  the  reproductive  faculty.  All 
Nature  worship  which  may  seem  to  begin  in  the  innocent 
and  harmless  adoration  of  the  beauty  and  the  order  of  Na- 
ture, issues  at  last  in  all  uncleanness  and  lasciviousness,  and 
the  highest  forms  of  worship  come  to  be  acts  so  foul  as  to 
be  nameless. 

The  worship  of  Baal  is  the  groping  of  the  intelligence 
after  God  in  Nature,  and  its  search  is  futile ;  so  that  at 
last  the  darkened  understanding  touching  the  last  mystery 
of  power,  without  being  able  to  discover  the  final  truth, 
there  results  the  degradation  of  the  whole  being. 

The  worship  of  Moloch  expressed  itself  in  all  cruelty, 
its  chief  expression  being  the  sacrifice  of  little  children. 
This  is  the  prostitution  of  the  emotional  nature.  Hate 
always  lives  next  door  to  love.  Man  magnifying  his  own 
emotional  nature  finds  a  god  who  will  be  appeased  by  acts 
of  cruelty.  As  in  the  worship  of  Nature  there  is  finally 
committed  all  manner  of  sins  and  sensualism  through  the 
debasement  of  the  intelligence,  so  necessarily  the  degraded 
aff^ectional  nature  will  express  itself  in  lack  of  love,  and 
therefore  in  deeds  of  brutality  towards  the  offspring  of  man. 

The  worship  of  Moloch  has  by  no  means  ceased.  As 
man  to-day  has  deified,  and  worships  in  fearful  form  at  the 
shrine  of,  the  central  mystery  of  life,  he  does  so  with  cal- 
lous heart  and  absolute  indifference  to  the  ruin  wrought. 
Here  are  suggested  lines  of  thought  which  must  be  fol- 
lowed without  the  expression  of  words  to  aid.  Let  it  only 
be  said  that  as  love  is  the  fairest  word  in  all  the  vocabulary 


Man  Ignorant  Through  Sin  45 

of  human  speech,  the  foulest  is  lust.  Yet  both  these  words 
are  the  result  of  the  operation  of  one  capacity.  Its  opera- 
tion within  the  realm  of  a  perfectly  informed  understanding 
is  indicated  by  the  word  love.  Its  operation  within  the 
realm  of  a  degraded  intelligence  is  indicated  by  the  word  lust. 
Yet  there  remains  the  third  of  these — Mammon. 
Schleusner  has  asserted  that  Mammon  was  the  name  of  a 
Syrian  deity.  Of  this  however  there  seems  to  be  no  posi- 
tive proof.  The  word  was  one  in  common  use  in  the  East 
among  the  Phoenicians,  the  Syrians,  and  others,  and  it  stood 
for  wealth,  and  the  power  of  wealth.  Jesus  made  a  most 
significant  and  remarkable  use  of  the  word.  He  said,  "Ye 
cannot  serve  God  and  Mammon."  ^  In  that  statement 
there  is  evidence  of  His  intimate  understanding  of  fallen 
human  nature,  and  of  His  far-seeing  appreciation  of  all  the 
facts  resulting  from  sin.  He  did  not  say.  Ye  cannot  serve 
God  and  the  devil.  If  He  had,  for  purposes  of  practical 
application  His  word  would  be  almost  pointless  in  this 
particular  age.  As  it  is,  with  every  movement  of  material 
progressiveness.  His  word  becomes  still  more  searching, 
more  arresting.  The  method  of  the  evil  one  has  ever  been 
that  of  obscuring  himself  behind  some  other  object  of 
worship.  In  the  dark  ages  men  had  a  very  weird  and  ter- 
rible consciousness  of  the  personality  of  Satan,  and  the  art 
of  the  time  depicts  him  as  a  monster  with  hoofs  and  horns, 
and  all  ugliness  of  countenance.  For  the  purposes  of  those 
dark  ages,  when  men  were  superstitious,  because  ignorant, 
such  method  of  appeal  proved  the  subtlety  of  the  foe.  In 
the  case  of  more  cultured  mental  capacity,  the  foe  always 
hides  the  ugliness  of  his  being,  and  to-day  as  never  before 
he  asks  for  the  submission  of  man  to  his  sway,  by  present- 
ing before  the  vision  of  man  the  fascinations  of  wealth,  and 

•  Matt.  6 :  24. 


46  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

the  power  which  wealth  commands.  The  worship  of 
Mammon  is  the  rendering  to  wealth  for  the  sake  of  its 
power,  of  all  that  man  ought  to  render  to  God.  In  the 
dethronement  of  God  and  the  enthronement  of  man's  per- 
sonal desire  as  the  governing  principle  behind  the  activity 
of  his  will,  man  has  come  to  think  of  greatness  as  consist- 
ing in  ability  to  govern  and  master  other  people.  There  is 
no  way  by  which  man  may  secure  more  power  over  other 
men  than  by  the  possession  of  wealth,  and  therefore  man 
worships  Mammon  with  all  his  soul,  with  all  his  mind, 
with  all  his  heart,  because  Mammon  represents  unlimited 
power. 

Thus  in  the  last  analysis  Mammon  is  the  deification  of 
human  will.  In  projecting  himself  into  immensity,  man 
has  magnified  a  will  that  insists  upon  the  subservience  of 
others,  and  so  has  come  to  worship  a  deity  whose  expres- 
sion of  godhead  is  mastery,  and  whose  sceptre  of  power  is 
the  possession  of  wealth. 

May  it  not  thus  be  said  in  brief,  that  the  worship  of 
Baal  is  the  adoration  of  imperfect  knowledge,  resulting  from 
the  darkening  of  the  intelligence ;  that  the  worship  of 
Moloch  is  the  adoration  of  prostituted  emotion,  resulting 
from  the  degradation  of  the  affectional  nature;  that  the 
worship  of  Mammon  is  the  adoration  of  a  degraded  will, 
resulting  from  the  loss  of  the  true  governing  principle  be- 
hind the  will  of  man.  All  this  in  its  thousand  manifesta- 
tions in  the  idolatries  of  the  race,  and  in  its  continued 
manifestation  in  the  godlessness  of  the  vast  multitudes  of 
the  most  civilized  people,  has  issued  from  the  fact  that  man 
being  distanced  from  God  by  sin,  has  become  ignorant  of 
God  through  sin. 

Thus  all  unconsciously  out  of  a  terrible  ignorance,  and, 
indeed,  by  that  very  ignorance,  man  calls  for  Christ  j  calls, 


Man  Ignorant  Through  Sin  47 

that  is,  for  the  shining  of  the  true  Light,  in  which  there 
shall  be  the  restoration  of  the  true  and  only  God,  by  which 
knowledge  there  shall  come  a  destruction  of  the  false  gods, 
the  worship  of  which  has  resulted  so  terribly  in  the  history 
of  the  race. 


Ill 

MAN  UNLIKE  GOD  IN  SIN 

If  it  be  true  that  man  having  lost  his  vision  of  God, 
creates  gods  for  himself,  by  projecting  into  immensity  his 
ow^n  distorted  being,  it  follows  therefore  that  there  must  be 
reaction  on  the  character  of  man  himself. 

In  describing  the  idols  of  the  nations,  the  Psalmist  makes 
use  of  remarkable  and  suggestive  words. 

"  Their  idols  are  silver  and  gold, 
The  work  of  men's  hands. 
They  have  mouths,  but  they  speak  not ; 
Eyes  have  they,  but  they  see  not ; 
They  have  ears,  but  they  hear  not ; 
Noses  have  they,  but  they  smell  not ; 
They  have  hands,  but  they  handle  not ; 
Feet  have  they,  but  they  walk  not; 
Neither  speak  they  through  their  throat. 
They  that  make  them  shall  be  like  unto  them ; 
Yea,  every  one  that  trusteth  in  them."  * 

This  is  the  declaration  of  a  great  principle,  that  a  man  is 
always  like  his  God.  Having  created  a  god  upon  the  pat- 
tern of  himself,  man  becomes  governed  by  that  idea,  and  so 
the  process  of  deterioration  goes  forward. 

The  whole  fact  may  be  indicated  by  bringing  together  a 
group  of  Scriptures. 

First,  the  statement  of  Genesis,  "  So  He  drove  out  the 

>»  2 


man. 


Psa.  115:  4-8.  '  Gen.  3  :  24. 

48 


Man  Unlike  God  in  Sin  49 

Next  the  statement  from  the  prophecy  of  Hosea,  "  They 
.  .  .  have  made  them  molten  images  of  their  silver, 
even  idols  according  to  their  own  understanding."  ^ 

Third,  a  declaration  of  the  Psalmist,  "  they  that  make 
them  shall  be  like  unto  them ;  Yea,  every  one  that  trusteth 
in  them." 

Fourth,  Paul's  description  of  the  condition  of  the  people, 
who  have  become  idolaters,  "  having  no  hope  and  without 
God  in  the  world."  ^  Man  alienated  from  God  through 
sin,  answered  the  craving  of  his  nature  for  God  by  creating 
one.  He  became '  degraded  by  his  own  false  conception, 
and  the  final  fact  is,  that  being  without  God,  he  is  also 
without  hope. 

The  present  study  will  be  devoted  to  a  consideration, 
first,  of  the  fact  that  separation  from  God  issues  in  unlike- 
ness ;  secondly,  of  the  unlikeness  resulting  from  separation  ; 
concluding  with  a  summing  up  of  the  position  as  indicating 
the  call  for  Christ. 

I.  In  the  fact  of  his  alienation  from  God,  man  has  lost 
his  own  spiritual  life.  As  material  death  is  the  separation 
of  the  spirit  from  the  body,  so  spiritual  death  is  the  separa- 
tion of  the  spirit  from  God.  The  Scripture  thought  con- 
cerning the  death  of  the  spirit  is  nowhere  that  of  cessation 
of  the  spirit's  existence.  Death  means  cessation  of  exist- 
ence only  with  regard  to  that  which  is  perishable.  The 
body  is  but  the  temporary  and  probationary  dwelling-place 
of  man's  spirit.  Death  for  that  means  the  end  of  its 
existence.  The  death  of  the  spirit  consists  in  its  existence, 
but  in  separation  from  that  Spirit  of  God,  in  fellowship 
with  Whom  it  is  alone  equal  to  the  fulfillment  of  all  its 
essential  functions.  Separated  from  God,  the  spirit  of  man 
»  Hosea  13:2.  » Eph.  2  :  12. 


50  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

retains  its  consciousness  of  great  possibilities,  without  being 
able  to  realize  and  fulfill  them.  Eyes  which  do  not  see, 
ears  which  do  not  hear,  the  only  consciousness  of  God  is 
that  of  an  intellectual  conviction  of  His  existence,  not  that 
of  a  personal  acquaintance  with  Him. 

This  statement  comes  as  more  than  a  declaration  of  a 
doctrine.  It  is  the  expression  of  an  experience.  Apart 
from  the  miracle  of  regeneration  no  man  has  a  true  vision 
of  God.  Sometimes  in  boastfulness,  and  in  the  attitude  of 
ridicule,  men  will  declare  that  they  do  not  believe  in  the 
existence  of  God,  because  they  have  never  seen  God.  God 
is  present  in  the  orderliness  of  Nature,  in  the  magnificent 
and  minute  beauty  of  the  infinitely  great  and  the  infinitely 
small.  Man  cannot  see  Him.  To  those  whose  hearts  are 
pure  and  whose  eyes  are  open.  He  is  to  be  seen  in  the  face 
of  a  little  child,  and  in  all  the  movements  of  the  times. 
But  man,  alienated  from  the  Divine  life,  though  dwelling 
in  the  place  of  vision  sees  nothing.  The  light  shines,  but 
the  darkened  eye  perceives  it  not.  The  voice  speaks,  but 
the  heavy  ear  hears  it  not.  God  is  near  to  every  man,  but 
the  dead  spirit  is  unconscious  of  His  nearness. 

In  that  wonderful  address  of  Paul  to  the  men  of  Athens, 
he  said,  "  Ye  men  of  Athens,  in  all  things  I  perceive  that 
ye  are  very  religious.  For  as  I  passed  along,  and  observed 
the  objects  of  your  worship,  I  found  also  an  altar  with 
this  inscription,  to  an  unknown  god.  What  therefore 
ye  worship  in  ignorance,  this  I  set  forth  unto  you.  The 
God  that  made  the  world  and  all  things  therein,  He,  being 
Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  dwelleth  not  in  temples  made 
with  hands ;  neither  is  He  served  by  men's  hands,  as 
though  He  needed  anything,  seeing  He  Himself  giveth  to  all 
life,  and  breath,  and  all  things ;  and  He  made  of  one  every 
nation  of  men  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth,  having 


Man  Unlike  God  in  Sin  51 

determined  their  appointed  seasons,  and  the  bounds  of  their 
habitation  ;  that  they  should  seek  God,  if  haply  they  might 
feel  after  Him,  and  find  Him,  though  He  is  not  far  from 
each  one  of  us  :  for  in  Him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have 
our  being ;  as  certain  even  of  your  own  poets  have  said, 

"  For  we  are  also  His  offspring."  ^ 

The  great  statement  that  He  "  is  not  far  away  from  each 
one  of  us  :  for  in  Him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our 
being  "  has  reference  not  merely  to  the  company  of  the 
saints,  but  to  all  men.  Human  life  is  sustained  within  the 
fact  of  the  Divine  and  all  its  energy.  All  human  force 
exerted  is  of  God.  The  very  strength  in  which  man  rebels 
against  Him,  and  hinders  the  coming  of  His  Kingdom,  and 
walks  along  the  way  of  his  pilgrimage,  is  Divine  strength, 
though  prostituted  to  base  uses  by  the  perversion  of  the  will 
of  God.  Thus  man,  walking  in  the  midst  of  a  great  light, 
stumbles  and  falls  in  darkness,  because  he  is  blind.  Man 
alienated  from  God  is  in  the  place  of  vision,  but  sees  it 
not  ,•  passes  along  his  pathway  surrounded  by  the  infinite 
music  of  the  voice  of  God,  and  yet  has  no  hearing  thereof. 
He  is  spiritually  dead.  In  the  light,  but  sightless ;  spoken 
to,  but  deaf. 

The  result  of  this  with  regard  to  man's  conception  of 
God  is,  as  has  been  shown,  that  he  creates  the  false  deities 
upon  the  basis  of  a  magnificent  but  false  humanity.  Its 
result  in  the  case  of  his  spiritual  nature  is  inevitably  that  of 
deterioration.  Having  no  pattern,  and  therefore  no  true 
understanding  of  his  own  being  as  to  its  possibility  and 
goal,  he  appropriates  the  very  energies  that  were  supplied 
for  his  progress  in  such  way  as  to  ensure  his  degradation. 
Man  who  does  not  know  God,  does  not  know  himself,  and 
is  therefore  not  able  to  realize  the  true  ideal  of  life.  The 
'Acts  17  :  22-28. 


52  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

final  word  in  the  system  of  Greek  thought,  was  expressed 
in  the  oft-quoted  sentence,  "  man  know  thyself."  That 
which  is  remarkable  about  the  injunction  is  that  these  men 
had  discovered  the  supreme  necessity.  What  they  failed 
to  discover  was  the  way  in  which  men  should  be  able  to 
obey  their  injunction,  and  know  themselves.  No  man  can 
know  himself  who  does  not  know  God.  Just  as  man, 
having  lost  the  vision  of  God,  creates  a  false  deity  upon  the 
basis  of  his  own  distorted  intelligence,  so  thereafter,  he 
attempts  to  bring  himself  into  conformity  with  the  false 
deity,  and  thus  perpetuates  the  ruin,  and  ensures  the  final 
degradation.  In  the  Divine  economy  man  is  a  perfect  union 
of  spirit  and  body,  which  union  issues  in  a  mind  or  conscious- 
ness truly  balanced,  having  comprehension  of  spiritual 
things,  and  therefore  true  understanding  of  things  material. 
Through  sin  and  the  death  of  the  spirit,  there  has  entered 
into  human  life  discord  between  spirit  and  flesh,  and  the 
mind  is  unbalanced  in  appreciation  of  values,  and  clouded 
in  its  outlook  upon  all  facts.  Discord  tends  to  discord. 
The  instrument  created  for  fellowship  with  God,  in  order 
to  the  representation  of  God,  itself  being  out  of  order,  be- 
cause out  of  communion  with  God,  is  now  only  capable  of 
expressing  distorted  truth  concerning  God,  which  is  the 
most  terrible  form  of  heresy. 

II.  In  dwelling  more  particularly  upon  the  unlikeness 
resulting,  the  two  facts  in  human  nature  already  referred  to 
must  be  remembered.  Essentially  man  is  spirit.  Ap- 
parently man  is  body.  That  is  to  say  the  unseen  but 
essential  fact  in  human  life  is  that  of  the  spirit.  The  body 
is  at  once  a  medium  through  which  the  spirit  receives  its 
impressions,  and  its  knowledge  concerning  material  things, 
and  expresses  to  others  spiritual  truths.  In  both  of  these 
man  has  become   unlike   God.     As  unfallen    man  is  like 


Man  Unlike  God  in  Sin  53 

God,  the  essential  likeness  being  in  the  fact  of  the  spirit, 
but  the  revelation  of  that  fact  being  through  the  medium  of 
the  body  ;  so  fallen  man,  distanced  from  God,  and  ignorant 
of  God,  is  unlike  God  in  the  essential  fact  of  his  spiritual 
nature,  and  therefore  fails  to  give  any  expression  of  God 
through  the  medium  of  his  physical  being. 

As  to  the  first,  spirit.  Falling  back  upon  the  analysis  of 
human  personality  already  considered,  that  namely  of  in- 
telligence, emotion,  and  will;  man  is,  in  the  whole  fact, 
unlike  God.  Think  first  of  the  intellectual  side  of  a  man's 
nature.  All  are  possessed  of  this,  and  yet  apart  from 
restoration  to  God,  the  intellect  in  its  working,  and  in  its 
achievements,  is  utterly  unlike  the  working  and  the 
achievements  of  the  wisdom  of  God.  For  illustration, 
instead  of  thinking  of  an  ignorant  man,  whose  intellectual 
capacity  is  dwarfed,  let  the  mind  contemplate  the  finest 
product  of  education  and  culture  that  can  possibly  be  pro- 
duced, and  even  then,  at  its  best  it  is  utterly  unlike  God. 
This  statement  does  not  undervalue  the  culture  of  the  in- 
tellect. It  simply  asserts  that  an  intellect  cultured  to  all 
refinement,  is  nevertheless  the  degradation  of  intellect,  un- 
less the  spirit  of  man  is  in  harmony  and  actual  intercourse 
with  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  operation  of  the  human 
intellect  apart  from  the  life  of  fellowship  with  God  is  an 
operation  wholly  within  the  realm  of  material  things. 
Intellect  divorced  from  Deity,  deals  only  with  dust.  Take 
all  scientific  investigation,  and  it  is  but  the  investigation 
and  tabulation  of  material  things.  Indeed  science  is  ever 
urgent  in  her  declaration  that  she  has  nothing  to  do  with 
subjects  that  lie  beyond  this  limit  of  investigation  and 
tabulation  of  the  facts  of  material  life.  With  splendid 
daring,  and  with  a  most  remarkable  accuracy,  the  intellect 
of  man  has  forced  its  way  back  through  all  the  movements 


3'4  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

of  material  order,  until  at  last  it  has  come  to  the  pro- 
toplasmic germ.  Here  science  stands  still,  and  honestly 
declares  it  has  no  more  to  say.  That  is  perfectly  true,  and 
it  is  admirably  honest  that  men  should  confess  its  limita- 
tion. And  yet  there  is  infinitely  more  to  say.  No  man 
by  searching  can  find  out  God,  but  the  intellect  of  man  in 
harmony  with  God,  is  instructed  by  the  higher  intelligence 
of  God  Himself,  as  to  the  supreme  fact  which  lies  behind  the 
dead  wall,  that  prevents  further  investigation,  of  intellect 
unilluminated  by  spiritual  communion.  Had  there  been 
no  break  with  God,  no  death,  no  darkening  of  the  intel- 
ligence, man  would  never  have  stood  still  at  the  point  in- 
dicated. Men,  in  communion  with  the  spiritual,  have  de- 
clared what  lies  behind  the  limit  of  investigation  possible 
to  intellect  acting  apart  from  God. 

The  opening  sentence  of  Genesis,  at  which  man's 
proud  intellect  smiles,  because  it  contains  a  statement  too 
profound  for  his  comprehension,  is  a  revelation  of  the  en- 
largement of  intellect  in  communion  with  God.  Behind 
the  mighty  movements  and  orderly  sequences,  which 
clouded  intelligence  has  been  able  to  observe,  intellect  in- 
spired discovers  the  fact  which  illuminates  the  mystery, 
and  satisfies  the  reason,  as  none  other  can.  "  In  the  be- 
ginning God  created."  * 

Or  to  take  the  statement  of  Job.  "He  .  .  .  hangeth 
the  earth  upon  nothing,"  ^  is  again  to  hear  a  most  profound 
statement,  resulting  from  spiritual  insight.  The  scientist 
will  declare  that  to  be  unthinkable,  and  in  his  declaration 
he  confesses  the  truth  of  the  argument.  There  are  things 
unthinkable  to  human  intellect  until  it  is  illumined.  And 
yet  the  scientist  objects  because  he  does  not  rightly  under- 
stand. He  leads  back,  and  back,  and  back,  until  he  comes 
iGen.  I:  i.  "Job  26:7. 


Man  Unlike  God  in  Sin  55 

to  the  simplest  form  of  things  material,  of  which  it  is  pos- 
sible for  his  mind  to  conceive.  The  spiritually  en- 
lightened man  then  says  to  him,  "  In  the  beginning  God 
created."  "  He  hangeth  the  earth  upon  nothing."  To 
this  the  scientist  objects  that  he  cannot  find  foothold  on 
nothing,  and  by  that  statement  shows  his  utter  ignorance 
of  the  declaration  of  these  inspired  intellects.  In  the  first 
declaration  the  scientist  lays  his  emphasis  upon  the  apparent 
vacuum  or  nothingness,  which  precedes  the  things  which 
had  their  beginning.  The  spiritually-instructed  intelligence 
lays  its  emphasis  upon  God  Who  filled  the  void,  and 
through  the  working  of  Whose  energy  the  new  became. 

So  also  with  the  second.  Man's  intelligence  unillumined, 
lays  its  emphasis  upon  the  "  nothing."  Intellect  inspired 
by  communion  with  the  spiritual  lays  its  emphasis  upon 
the  "  He."  It  is  this  God,  this  "  He  "  that  human  intel- 
lect in  its  degradation  is  wearying  itself  to  find,  and  He 
never  can  be  found  by  the  unaided  working  of  a  degraded 
intelligence,  whose  operations  are  wholly  limited  within 
the  facts  material.  The  intellect  of  man,  created  by  God 
for  largest  purposes,  has  become  imprisoned  within  the 
material  realm.  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  the  secret  at  back  of 
all  material  phenomena  is  that  God  has  spiritual  per- 
sonality. The  mighty  wisdom  of  the  eternal  God  is 
spiritual.  The  intellect  of  man  has  become  materialized, 
and  thus  as  to  intelligence  he  is  unlike  God. 

It  is  equally  true  that  man  is  unlike  God  in  his 
emotional  nature.  The  action  of  man's  affection  at  its 
highest,  apart  from  fellowship  with  God  is  selfish.  Traced 
back  to  the  final  fact,  human  love  is  self-centred  in  its 
choice  of  an  object,  and  in  its  expression  of  itself  towards 
that  object.  Said  Jesus  to  His  disciples,  "  If  ye  love  them 
that   love  you,  what    reward  have  ye  ?   do  not  even  the 


^6  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

publicans  the  same?  "*  In  that  question  there  is  revealed 
the  very  inwardness  of  depraved  human  emotion.  Man 
loves  such  as  love  him.  That  fact  alone  is  sufficient  to 
demonstrate  man's  unlikeness  to  God.  He  loves  in  the 
very  necessity  of  His  Being,  and  in  such  way  as  forever  to 
make  impossible  the  thought  of  selfishness  as  a  motive. 
The  deepest  emotion  of  man  acts  finally  along  the  line 
that  will  tend  to  the  gratification  of  desires  that  are 
purely  selfish.  Invariably  and  inevitably  when  the  capacity 
for  love  operates  from  this  centre  of  self,  love  itself  be- 
comes selfish,  self-centred,  self-inspired,  self-considering, 
and  thus  destroys  itself.  God's  love  is  spiritual  and 
sacrificing,  and  is  set  upon  objects  utterly  unworthy  of 
love,  upon  such  as  have  given  no  reason  for  love,  in  that 
they  have  hated  Him.  The  love  of  God  is  self-emptying, 
self-sacrificing.  Not  first  for  self-enrichment  does  He 
bestow  gifts,  but  for  the  enrichment  of  those  upon  whom 
He  bestows  them.  The  highest  culture  of  the  emotional 
nature  of  man,  apart  from  the  moving  love  of  God,  is 
debased,  in  that  it  is  self-centred ;  and  thus  in  the  fact  of 
his  emotional  nature  also,  man  is  unlike  God. 

Moreover,  in  the  realm  of  the  will  as  to  its  governing 
principle,  and  activity,  man  has  become  utterly  unlike  God. 
The  motive  power  behind  the  action  of  human  will,  apart 
from  its  relation  to  the  Divine  will,  is  that  of  desire  for 
mastery.  The  motive  power  behind  the  will  of  God,  dom- 
inating its  action,  is  always  that  of  a  love  which  is  set  upon 
the  well-being  of  others,  and  which  urges  God  Himself 
towards  such  ministry  as  shall  encompass  that  well-being, 
A  strong-willed  man,  as  the  phrase  goes,  is  one  who  means 
to  have  his  own  way.  Whether  he  is  a  saint  or  a  sinner, 
that  is  equally  true.  He  is  masterful,  and  is  determined 
'  Matt.  5  :  46. 


Man  Unlike  God  in  Sin  57 

that  the  wills  of  others  shall  yield  to  his.  This,  apart  from 
the  operation  of  the  grace  of  God,  tends  to  tyranny.  The 
highest  exercises  of  human  will,  those  which  have  lifted 
certain  men  above  the  plane  of  their  fellows,  have  made 
them  conspicuous  in  human  history,  and  have  created  the 
reason  why  vast  multitudes  of  their  fellows  have  done  them 
homage,  have  been  those  of  determination  to  drive  a  high- 
way through  opposing  difficulties,  in  order  that  men  and 
movements  may  submit  to  the  dominating  desire  of  such 
men.  How  utterly  and  absolutely  unlike  the  action  of  the 
will  of  God.  That  will  is  simple  and  beneficent,  and  its 
very  strength  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  is  set  determinately 
upon  the  well-being  of  others.  The  will  of  God  for  man 
is  that  he  should  be  the  best,  and  have  the  best ;  and  that 
determination  creates  the  mighty  force  thereof.  And  yet 
how  little  this  is  really  understood.  Here  again  man  libels 
God,  by  thinking  of  His  will  in  its  determinings  and  doings, 
as  an  enlargement  of  the  will  of  man.  How  constantly 
men  think  and  speak  of  the  will  of  God  as  being  the  de- 
termination of  an  Autocrat,  Who  insists  upon  the  keeping 
of  His  laws.  That  is  perfectly  true,  but  the  reason  behind 
the  insistence  is  the  reason  which  creates  the  will,  that 
namely,  of  His  infinite  and  unwearying  love.  The  force 
behind  man's  will  is  the  passion  for  mastery.  The  force 
behind  God's  will  is  the  passion  of  an  Infinite  Love  which 
impels  to  service. 

In  the  story  of  the  fall  there  is  the  account  of  the  genesis 
of  that  which  is  evil  in  the  will  of  man.  When  the  enemy 
said,  "  Ye  shall  be  as  God,"  '  he  suggested  a  false  concep- 
tion of  God.  Then  for  the  first  time  there  was  held  before 
man  the  possibility  of  being  master,  and  therein  lay  a  scan- 
dal upon  God.  In  effect  the  enemy  said,  God  has  His  way 
»Gen.  3:5. 


58  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

and  masters  you.  Take  the  mastery  out  of  His  hands,  and 
be  masters  yourselves.  When  Jesus  came  He  said,  "  the 
Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minis- 
ter, and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for  many."  '  In  that 
great  statement  is  a  revelation  of  the  truth  concerning  God. 
God's  mastery  is  the  channel  of  His  service.  By  insistence 
on  authority  He  serves  all  highest  interests  in  human  life. 
Of  this  man  has  lost  all  consciousness.  He  has  but  one 
conception  of  greatness,  that  of  authority  over  others,  one 
understanding  of  the  operation  of  the  human  will,  that  of 
determination  to  be  obeyed.  When  the  soldier  returns  from 
battle,  men  still  sing 

"  See  the  conquering  hero  comes," 
Sound  the  trumpet,  beat  the  drums; 
Sports  prepare,  the  laurel  bring, 
Songs  of  triumph  to  him  sing. 
See  the  godlike  youth  advance. 
Breathe  the  flutes  and  lead  the  dance ; 
Myrtle  wreaths  and  roses  twine 
To  deck  the  hero's  brow  divine." 

Is  that  conquering  hero  godlike  ?  That  is  the  moment 
in  which  man  is  far  more  like  the  devil  than  like  God. 
Men  do  not  sing 

"  See  the  conquering  hero  comes  " 

of  such  as  in  some  obscure  place  quietly  wait  and  serve, 
and  yet  they  are  the  truly  godlike.  All  this,  however, 
men  of  darkened  intelligence,  and  prostituted  emotion  will 
not  believe.  There  can  be  no  acceptance  of  such  teach- 
ing as  this,  save  by  those  who  are  restored  to  relation- 
ship with  God,  and  see  things  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
spiritual. 

Thus  in  the  spiritual  fact  of  his  nature,  man  by  the  fall 

>  Matt.  20  :  28. 


Man  Unlike  God  in  Sin  59 

has  become  unlike  God,  in  that  his  intelligence  operates 
wholly  within  the  material  realm,  whereas  the  Divine 
wisdom  is  spiritual,  and  therefore  explanatory  of  all 
material  facts ;  his  emotion  acts  from  wrong  principle  of 
self-love,  whereas  the  Divine  love  ever  operates  upon  the 
principle  of  love  for  others  ;  and  his  will  asserts  itself  upon 
the  basis  of  the  passion  for  mastery,  whereas  the  Divine 
will  insists  upon  obedience,  through  determination  to  serve 
the  highest  interests  of  others. 

What  bearing  has  this  then  upon  the  physical  fact  in 
human  nature  ?  This  question  may  be  briefly  answered  by 
declaring  that  the  body  has  become  the  prison  of  the  spirit. 
It  deadens  the  spirit's  consciousness,  silences  its  voice,  and 
practically  treats  it  as  non-existent.  Man  provides  for 
physical  food,  and  neglects  the  sustenance  of  the  spirit. 
He  builds  and  furnishes  a  house  for  his  body,  while  he  pays 
no  attention  to  the  ultimate  homelessness  of  his  spirit.  He 
takes  great  care  as  to  the  air  in  which  his  physical  life  ex- 
ists, but  provides  no  atmosphere  for  the  invigoration  of  his 
spirit.  Wherever  this  is  so,  the  body  itself  becomes  vulgar- 
ized. Man's  physical  nature  can  never  realize  its  highest 
possibilities  of  beauty,  by  divorcing  it  from  that  which  is 
spiritual. 

The  sense  of  spiritual  beauty  lost,  man  seeks  only  the 
attractiveness  of  the  flesh,  and  thereby  ministers  to  its  own 
decay  and  vulgarization.  Illustrations  from  the  methods 
of  fashionable  women  might  be  quoted,  were  it  not  a  sub- 
ject too  nauseous.  The  highest  perfection  of  beauty  can 
only  be  realized  where  there  is  a  recognition  of  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  spiritual,  and  the  body  consequently  becomes, 
not  the  prison  house  of  the  spirit,  but  its  temple.  It  fol- 
lows therefore  that  the  image  of  God  lost  in  the  spiritual, 
cannot  be  expressed  in  the  physical. 


6o  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

III.  In  this  threefold  consideration  it  has  been  seen  that 
man  is  out  of  harmony  with  God  as  to  motive,  method,  and 
manifestation  of  life.  Character  being  at  variance,  conduct 
is  antagonistic.  Fallen  man  is  a  lie.  Man  was  made  the 
shadow  of  God,  for  the  manifestation  of  God.  Having 
departed  from  the  true  line  of  light,  being  separated  from 
the  forces  of  life,  instead  of  shadowing  God  forth,  he  has 
cast  the  shadow  of  his  depraved  personality  back  upon 
God,  and  therefore  instead  of  revealing,  hides. 

All  this  serves  to  demonstrate  the  fact  that  there  is  now 
no  further  use  for  man  in  the  economy  of  God,  no  reason 
for  his  continuity.  There  can  be  no  reflection  upon  the 
infinite  wisdom  and  justice  of  God,  if  so  terrible  a  failure 
were  cast  out  hopelessly  from  His  presence.  The  very  rea- 
son for  the  existence  of  humanity  is  rendered  impossible  of 
realization.  Broken  lenses  can  but  reveal  broken  lights. 
The  ruined  camera  can  but  distort  images,  and  man  who 
was  created  an  instrument  for  the  forthshadowing  of  God, 
is  now  incapable  of  doing  his  work,  in  that  it  is  impossible 
for  a  ruined  instrument  to  reveal,  its  very  ruin  consisting  in 
its  unfitness  for  the  work  of  revelation. 

There  can  be  no  reconstruction  within  the  realm  of  de- 
struction. If  ever  this  ruined  instrument  is  to  be  recon- 
structed, it  must  be  by  a  process  from  without.  Now  let  the 
question  solemnly  be  asked  at  this  point.  Is  there  any  reason 
why  man  should  be  redeemed,  why  the  wreckage  should  be 
restored,  why  the  instrument  should  be  renewed?  If  it  be 
declared  that  the  reason  is  that  God  still  needs  an  instrument 
of  illumination,  it  may  be  fairly  averred  that  He  can  create  a 
new  instrument,  abandoning  the  one  that  has  been  a  failure. 
The  plain  fact  which  must  be  faced  is  this,  that  there  is  no 
reason  in  the  realm  of  righteousness,  or  of  justice  merely, 
why  there  should  be  any  redemption  provided  for  lost  man. 


Man  Unlike  God  in  Sin  6l 

And  yet  there  is  a  reason,  so  powerful,  so  conclusive, \ 
and  inclusive,  that  it  may  be  reverently,  and  yet  unhesitat- 
ingly affirmed  that  God  is  bound  to  find  a  way  of  redemp- 
tion, and  answer  the  call  of  a  ruined  race.  That  reason 
lies  within  the  nature  of  God.  It  is  that  He  is  Love. 
Because  He  is  Love,  He  must ;  and  the  "  must "  has  in  it 
nothing  of  the  declaration  of  human  claim,  but  it  is  the 
affirmation  of  faith,  based  upon  profound  conviction.  The 
reason  of  redemption  lies  in  the  heart  of  God. 

This  is  not  a  statement  calculated  to  create  satisfaction 
in  the  mind  of  man  with  himself.  It  is  hardly  a  popular 
doctrine.  It  cuts  from  underneath  the  feet  all  ground  for 
human  boasting.  God  is  not  bound  to  do  anything  for 
man.  Man  has  forfeited  his  whole  claim  upon  God  by 
sin.  There  is  absolutely  no  reason  why  the  distorted  and 
ruined  image  should  be  redeemed  or  reconstructed.  And 
yet  there  is  a  reason,  and  that  so  powerful,  that  there  can 
be  no  escape  from  it. 

"  He  saw  me  ruined  m  the  fall, 
Yet  loved  me  notwithstanding  all."  * 

If  God  had  been  other  than  Love,  man  must  have  remained 
endlessly  in  the  realm  of  ruin.  But  the  very  ruin  of  man 
included  within  it  man's  spoiling,  and  man's  sorrow,  creat- 
ing a  great  cry  which  appealed  to  the  Infinite  Love  of  the 
Infinite  Heart.  The  call  of  man  in  his  ruin  Love  heard, 
and  Love  answered,  in  the  gift  of  Christ,  Who  is 
Himself,  to  traverse  the  path  of  pain  and  suffering,  to  the 
final  and  absolute  limit,  that  out  of  all  this,  man  might  be 
lifted  into  the  realm  where  it  will  be  possible  to  fulfill  the 
initial  purpose  of  his  creation,  and  thus  satisfy  the  purpose 
of  God,  which  is  the  purpose  of  Love.  ^ 

>  Medley. 


BOOK  I 

THE  BIRTH 


IV.  The  Great  Mystery — The  God-Man 
V.  The  Meaning — God  Was  in  Christ 
VI.  Signs  to  the  Sons  of  Men 


"  We  need  not  wonder^  that  mist  and  all  its  phenomena  have 
been  made  delightful  to  us,  since  our  happiness  as  thinking 
beings  must  depend  on  our  being  content  to  accept  only  partial 
knoivledge,  even  in  those  matters  which  chiefly  concern  us.  If 
we  insist  upon  perfect  intelligibility  and  complete  declaration  in 
every  moral  subject,  we  shall  instantly  fall  into  misery  of  unbe- 
lief Our  whole  happiness  and  power  of  energetic  action  de- 
pend upon  our  being  able  to  breathe  and  live  in  the  cloud ;  con- 
tent to  see  it  opening  here  and  closing  there ;  rejoicing  to  catch, 
through  the  thinnest  fihns  of  it,  glimpses  of  stable  and  substan- 
tial things ;  but  yet  perceiving'  a  nobleness  even  in  the  conceal- 
ment, and  rejoicing  that  the  kindly  veil  is  spread  where  the 
untempered  light  might  have  scorched  us,  or  the  infinite  clear- 
ness wearied. 


"  /  know  there  are  an  evil  mystery  and  a  deathful  dimness, — 

the  mystery  of  the  great  Babylon — the  dimness  of  the  sealed  eye 
and  soul;  but  do  not  let  us  confuse  these  with  the  glorious 
mystery  of  the  things  which  the  angels  *  desire  to  look  into^  or 
with  the  dimness  which,  even  before  the  clear  eye  and  open  soul, 
still  rests  on  sealed  pages  of  the  eternal  volume." 

— John  Ruskin. 

"  Modern  Painters." 


Now  when  Jesus  was  born  in  Bethlehem  of  Judsea  in  the  days 
of  Herod  the  king,  behold.  Wise-men  from  the  east  came  to 
Jerusalem,  saying.  Where  is  He  that  is  born  King  of  the  Jews  ?  for 
we  saw  His  star  in  the  east,  and  are  come  to  worship  Him.  And 
when  Herod  the  king  heard  it,  he  was  troubled,  and  all  Jerusalem 
with  him.  And  gathering  together  all  the  chief  priests  and  scribes 
of  the  people,  he  inquired  of  them  where  the  Christ  should  be 
born.  And  they  said  unto  him.  In  Bethlehem  of  Judsa :  for 
thus  it  is  written  through  the  prophet. 

And  thou  Bethlehem,  land  of  Judah, 
Art  in  no  wise  least  among  the  princes  of  Judah : 
For  out  of  thee  shall  come  forth  a  governor, 
Who  shall  be  Shepherd  of  My  people  Israel. 

Then  Herod  privily  called  the  Wise-men,  and  learned  of  them 
exactly  what  time  the  star  appeared.  And  he  sent  them  to  Beth- 
lehem, and  said.  Go  and  search  out  exactly  concerning  the  young 
child  ;  and  when  ye  have  found  Him,  bring  me  word,  that  I  also 
may  come  and  worship  Him.  And  they,  having  heard  the  king, 
went  their  way  ;  and  lo,  the  star,  which  they  saw  in  the  east, 
went  before  them,  till  it  came  and  stood  over  where  the  young 
child  was.  And  when  they  saw  the  star,  they  rejoiced  with  ex- 
ceeding great  joy.  And  they  came  into  the  house  and  saw  the 
young  child  with  Mary  His  mother  ;  and  they  fell  down  and 
worshipped  Him  ;  and  opening  their  treasures  they  offered  unto 
Him  gifts,  gold  and  frankincense  and  myrrh.  And  being  warned 
of  God  in  a  dream  that  they  should  not  return  to  Herod,  they  de- 
parted into  their  own  country  another  way." — Matt.  2  :  1-12. 

#(C  «|C  ^Ic  2^^  ^  ^  ^ 

And  it  came  to  pass,  while  they  were  there,  the  days  were  ful- 
filled that  she  should  be  delivered.  And  she  brought  forth  her  first- 
born son  ;  and  she  wrapped  Him  in  swaddling  clothes,  and  laid 
Him  in  a  manger,  because  there  was  no  room  for  them  in  the  inn. 

And  there  were  shepherds  in  the  same  country  abiding  in  the 
field,  and  keeping  watch  by  night  over  their  flock.  And  an  angel 
of  the  Lord  stood  by  them,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shone  round 
about  them  :  and  they  were  sore  afraid.  And  the  angel  said  unto 
them.  Be  not  afraid  ;  for  behold,  I  bring  you  good  tidings  of  great 
joy  which  shall  be  to  all  the  people  :  for  there  is  born  to  you  this 
day  in  the  city  of  David  a  Saviour,  Who  is  Christ  the  Lord.  And  this 
is  the  sign   unto  you :   Ye  shall  find  a  babe  wrapped  in  swaddling 

65 


clothes,  and  lying  in  a  manger.  And  suddenly  there  was  with  the 
angel  a  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host  praising  God,  and  saying. 

Glory  to  God  in  the  highest, 
And  on  earth  peace  among  men  in 
whom  He  is  well  pleased. 

And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  angels  went  away  from  them  into 
heaven,  the  shepherds  said  one  to  another.  Let  us  now  go  even 
unto  Bethlehem,  and  see  this  thing  that  is  come  to  pass,  which  the 
Lord  hath  made  known  unto  us.  And  they  came  with  haste,  and 
found  both  Mary  and  Joseph,  and  the  babe  lying  in  the  manger. 
And  when  they  saw  it,  they  made  known  concerning  the  saying 
which  was  spoken  to  them  about  this  child. — Luke  2  :  6-1  J. 

And  the  Word  became  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us  (and  we  be- 
held His  glory,  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  from  the  Father),  full 
of  grace  and  truth. — John  i :  i^. 


66 


IV 

THE  GREAT  MYSTERY— THE  GOD-MAN 

The  subject  of  the  Incarnation  is  at  once  initial  and 
fundamental.  All  the  significance  of  the  crises  that  follow, 
grows  out  of  this  first,  and  most  marvellous  mystery.  The 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  a  Person  infinitely  transcending  the 
possibility  of  perfect  human  comprehension.  Nevertheless 
the  Scripture  declares  certain  facts  concerning  Him,  which 
account  for  His  glory  and  His  grace,  and  without  which 
He  remains  an  unsolved  problem,  defying  every  successive 
age  in  its  attempts  to  account  for  Him.  It  should  at  once 
be  admitted  that  no  final  words  of  explanation  can  be  writ- 
ten concerning  Him.  And  yet  it  is  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance that  so  much  as  has  been  revealed  should  be  recog- 
nized, in  order  to  a  comprehension  of  the  true  meaning  of 
His  mission. 

In  the  later  letters  of  the  apostle  Paul,  notably  that  to 
the  Colossians,  it  is  evident  that  he  is  supremely  anxious 
that  Christian  people  should  know  Christ.  In  declaring 
this  he  expresses  the  thought  in  the  words,  "  That  they 
may  know  the  mystery  of  God,  even  Christ."  '  He  speaks 
of  Christ  as  "  the  mystery  of  God."  It  will  be  of  value  to 
understand,  through  all  these  studies,  the  New  Testament 
use  and  meaning  of  the  word  "  mystery."  That  has  been 
most  lucidly  stated  to  be  "  a  truth  undiscoverable  except  by 
revelation ;  never  necessarily  (as  our  popular  use  of  the 
word  may  suggest)  a  thing  unintelligible,  or  perplexing  in 
»Col.  2:  2. 
67 


68  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

itself.  In  Scripture  a  mystery  may  be  a  fact  which,  when 
revealed  we  cannot  understand  in  detail,  though  we  can 
know  it,  and  act  upon  it,  .  .  .  It  is  a  thing  only  to 
be  known  when  revealed." ' 

In  this  sense  Christ  is  the  mystery  of  God.  Perfect 
analysis  and  explanation  of  His  Person  is  impossible.  The 
fact  thereof  is  declared  as  to  origin,  and  essential  character- 
istics. These  must  be  recognized,  in  order  to  a  right  un- 
derstanding of  the  great  subject  of  human  redemption. 

Having  seen,  that  reconstruction  in  the  region  of  destruc- 
tion was  utterly  impossible,  that  there  was  no  way,  in  the 
wisdom  or  power  of  man,  for  the  encompassing  of  his  own 
restoration,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  the  Divine  method 
of  redemption  would  be  beyond  perfect  explanation  to  the 
sons  of  men.  That  which  human  wisdom  cannot  plan 
must  necessarily  be  beyond  its  power  perfectly  to  under- 
stand. Human  intelligence  is  capable  of  appreciating  any- 
thing that  lies  within  the  range  of  the  working  of  human 
wisdom.  The  intelligence  of  one  man  may  not  be  equal 
to  the  discovery  of  the  method  of  transmitting  words 
by  electricity  without  use  of  wires.  When,  however, 
another  human  intelligence  has  thought  the  matter  out,  this 
man  is  able  to  comprehend  the  explanation  given.  It  may 
therefore  be  argued  that  while  man  was  not  equal  in 
his  own  wisdom  to  devising  a  plan  of  redemption,  he 
ought  to  be  able  perfectly  to  comprehend  the  plan  of  God. 
Yet  this  does  not  follow.  In  the  first  case,  the  whole 
movement  is  within  the  compass  of  human  intelligence. 
In  the  second,  all  human  wisdom  had  been  utterly  ex- 
hausted in  its  attempt  to  think  of,  or  to  discover  a  method 
of  salvation,  and  had  failed.  The  failure,  moreover,  must 
have  continued  through  all  the  ages,  for  the  Person  of 
•  Bishop  Handley  Moule. 


The  Great  Mystery — The  God-Man        69 

Christ,  and  the  whole  scheme  of  human  redemption,  are  so 
transcendently  marvellous  as  to  demand  for  their  explana- 
tion the  recognition  of  their  Divine  origin.  All  this  is  to 
emphasize  a  fact  that  must  not  be  lost  sight  of  in  ap- 
proaching the  contemplation  of  this  initial  movement 
of  God  towards  man,  that  while  the  great  facts  are  de- 
clared, they  cannot  be  perfectly  comprehended  by  human 
reason ;  and  it  is  necessary  therefore  to  approach  them  in 
the  attitude  of  faith. 

These  statements  apply  with  equal  force  to  the  whole 
mystery  of  the  life,  and  death,  and  resurrection  of  Jesus. 
The  subject  is  therefore  to  be  approached  with  holy 
and  submissive  reverence.  The  attitude  of  the  mind  in  its 
approach,  is  defined  in  words  spoken  long  centuries  ago  for 
the  children  of  Israel,  by  Moses  the  servant  of  God. 
"  The  secret  things  belong  unto  Jehovah  our  God  ;  but  the 
things  that  are  revealed  belong  unto  us  and  to  our  children 
forever,  that  we  may  do  all  the  words  of  this  law."  ^ 
There  are  secret  things  which  belong  unto  the  Lord. 
There  are  revealed  things,  which  God  has  made  so  plain 
that  they  may  be  comprehended,  these  "  belong  unto  us 
and  to  our  children."  It  is  the  solemn  duty  of  all  who  de- 
sire to  know  the  Christ,  that  they  should  diligently  study 
the  things  revealed,  and  reverently  rest  with  regard  to  the 
secret  things. 

The  present  study  is  devoted  chiefly  to  the  birth  of 
Christ,  as  the  crisis  of  Incarnation.  There  is  always  the 
danger  of  dwelling  more  upon  the  birth  of  the  human,  than 
of  contemplating  that  birth  as  the  crisis  through  which  God 
became  incarnate.  It  is  in  the  latter  way  however,  that 
the  subject  is  now  to  be  approached,  and  in  the  following 
order.  First,  the  testimony  of  Scripture ;  secondly,  the 
1  Deut,  29 :  29. 


70 


The  Crises  of  the  Christ 


mystery    as    to    the  secret  things ;    third,  the  mystery   re- 
vealed. 

I.  From  the  great  mass  of  declaration  in  the  New 
Testament  concerning  this  subject,  it  will  be  sufficient 
to  take  four  principal  passages.  These  will  again  be 
divided  into,  first,  annunciations  to  be  reverently  read,  and 
received  without  attempted  explanation ;  and  secondly  doc- 
trinal declarations  to  be  reverently  considered. 

The  annunciations  are  those  of  the  angel  to  Joseph  and 
to  Mary.  In  connection  with  the  latter  it  will  be  neces- 
sary also  to  read  the  brief  historic  statement  concerning  the 
fulfillment  of  the  angelic  message. 

The  annunciation  to  Joseph  was  uttered  in  these  words, 
"  Joseph,  thou  son  of  David,  fear  not  to  take  unto  thee 
Mary  thy  wife  :  for  that  which  is  conceived  in  her  is  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  And  she  shall  bring  forth  a  son  ;  and  thou 
shalt  call  His  name  JESUS ;  for  it  is  He  that  shall  save  His 
people  from  their  sins.  Now  all  this  is  come  to  pass,  that 
it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  the  Lord  through 
the  prophet,  saying. 

Behold,  the  virgin  shall  be  with  child, 

and  shall  bring  forth  a  son, 
And  they  shall  call  His  name  Immanuel ; 

which  is,  being  interpreted,  God  with  us."  ' 

In  the  presence  of  this  mysterious  announcement,  there 
can  be  no  fitting  attitude  of  the  human  intellect  save  that 
of  acceptance  of  the  truth,  without  any  attempt  to  explain 
the  absolute  mystery.  The  annunciation  reveals  the  fact 
that  in  the  origin  of  the  Person  of  Jesus  there  was  the  co- 
operation of  Deity  and  humanity,  each  making  its  own 
contribution. 

» Matt.  1 :  20-23. 


The  Great  Mystery— The  God-Man         71 

The  annunciation  to  Mary  should  be  read  in  close  con- 
nection with  the  statement  of  its  fulfillment  in  history. 
"  And  the  angel  answered  and  said  unto  her,  The  Holy 
Spirit  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Most 
High  shall  overshadow  thee  :  wherefore  also  the  holy  thing 
which  is  begotten  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  God."  .  .  . 
"  And  she  brought  forth  her  first-born  son ;  and  she 
wrapped  Him  in  swaddling  clothes,  and  laid  Him  in  a 
manger,  because  there  was  no  room  for  them  in  the  inn."^ 
This  annunciation  and  declaration  concerned  one  Person, 
spoken  of  in  the  former  as  the  Son  of  God,  in  the  latter  as 
"  her  son."      Here  are  not  two  Persons,  but  one. 

These  annunciations  are  to  be  read  and  received  without 
any  attempt  to  explain  the  central  mystery  contained 
within  them,  which  absolutely  transcends  all  human  under- 
standing. They  must  be  received,  or  else  the  whole  super- 
structure of  Christianity  totters  and  falls.  It  is  only  by  the 
way  of  the  fact  here  declared,  that  it  is  at  all  possible 
to  comprehend  the  great  facts  which  are  evident  in  the 
whole  subsequent  work  of  this  Person.  To  deny  the 
truth  of  this  account  of  the  initial  crisis,  is  to  be  left  to  the 
contemplation  of  effects,  for  which  no  sufficient  cause  can 
be  found.  The  stupendous  and  ever  manifest  combination 
in  the  Personality  of  Jesus  of  essential  Deity,  and  proper 
humanity,  is  totally  without  sufficient  cause,  the  moment 
men  have  ceased  to  have  faith  in  the  Scripture  account  of 
the  miraculous  conception.  That  initial  miracle  cannot  be 
finally  explained,  but  neither  can  the  origin  of  any  form  of 
life  be  finally  explained  in  thgjast  analysis. 

The  doctrinal  declarations  to  be  considered  are  those  of 
John  and  of  Paul.     That  of  John  is  in  the  introduction  to 
his    Gospel.     "And   the  Word  became  flesh,  and  dwelt 
'  Luke  1 :  35 ;  2:7. 


72  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

among  us  .  .  .  full  of  grace  and  truth."  ^  For  the 
sake  of  the  present  consideration,  the  parenthetical  declara- 
tion "  and  we  beheld  His  glory,  glory  as  of  the  only 
begotten  from  the  Father,"  is  omitted.  To  rightly  appre- 
ciate the  meaning  of  this  statement  it  is  necessary  to  con- 
nect it  with  the  opening  words  of  the  Gospel.  "  In 
the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God, 
and  the  Word  was  God."  ^  The  passage  from  the  second 
to  the  thirteenth  verse  inclusive,  is  a  statement  giving 
parenthetically  the  history  of  the  Word  from  the  beginning 
of  the  first  creation  to  the  beginning  of  the  second. 

Omitting  this  passage,  verses  one  and  fourteen,  read  in 
immediate  connection,  contain  a  declaration  of  the  sublimest 
facts  concerning  the  Person  of  Christ,  and  a  statement  of 
His  coming  into  relation  with  the  human  race  in  the  mys- 
tery of  Incarnation.  In  each  of  these  passages  there  is  a 
threefold  statement,  and  they  answer  to  each  other. 

"  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word."  "  And  the  Word 
became  flesh." 

"And  the  Word  was  with  God."  "And  tabernacled 
among  us." 

"  And  the  Word  was  God."     "  Full  of  grace  and  truth," 

This  is  a  statement  of  the  mystery  of  the  Incarnation,  a 
setting  in  doctrinal  form  of  that  fact,  announced  by 
heavenly  messengers  to  Joseph  and  to  Mary. 

The  first  statement  is  full  of  a  majesty  and  sublimity 
which  flings  its  light  about  the  pathway,  but  which  cannot 
be  penetrated  or  perfectly  comprehended.  "  In  the  begin- 
ning was  the  Word."  The  phrase  "  in  the  beginning  "  in 
this  connection  antedates  any  other  reference  to  the  ages 
to  be  found  in  the  sacred  volume.  By  it  man  is  borne  back 
into  the  infinite  and  unfathomable  reaches  of  the  unmeasur- 
>  John  I  :  14.  sjohn  i:  I. 


The  Great  Mystery — The  God-Man         73 

able.  The  phrase  with  which  the  book  of  Genesis  opens 
takes  man  to  the  beginning  of  the  history  of  the  present 
order,  to  those  original  movements  of  the  Divine  mind  and 
power,  by  which  material  things  originated.  The  phrase  as 
John  uses  it,  in  these  opening  words,  carries  the  mind  yet 
again  beyond  those  original  movements  of  creation.  By 
its  aid  the  mind  of  man  is  introduced  to  the  presence  of 
the  Self-existent  God.  Contemplating  the  unutterable 
splendour,  whose  very  light  darkens  the  understanding  of 
the  finite  mind,  the  Word  is  found  existing.  A  word  is  a 
means  of  expression.  The  word  of  man  is  man's  method 
of  self-expression.  The  Word  of  God  is  the  name  here 
used  for  that  Person  in  the  Trinity,  Who  is  the  Divine 
method  of  self-expression. 

"The  Word  became  flesh."  The  statement  Is  appall- 
ing, overwhelming.  Out  of  the  infinite  distances,  into  the 
finite  nearness  ;  from  the  unknowable,  to  the  knowable ; 
from  the  method  of  self-expression  appreciable  by  Deity 
alone,  to  a  method  of  self-expression  understandable  of  the 
human. 

In  the  inscrutable  mystery  of  the  Trinity  the  Son  is  ever 
the  Medium  of  self-expression.  By  this  awe-inspiring 
fact  of  Incarnation,  the  office  of  the  Son  is  not  changed. 
Its  method  is  changed  for  the  sake  of  man.  The  move- 
ment of  the  change  no  human  intelligence  can  follow.  It 
is  darkly  mysterious  with  the  darkness  of  a  blinding  splen- 
dour. The  conception  is  too  mighty  ever  to  have  been 
born  in  the  intelligence  of  man.  "The  Word  which  was 
in  the  beginning     .     .     .     became  flesh." 

"The  Word  was  with  God."  The  natural  home  of 
the  Eternal  Son  Who  was  the  Medium  of  self-revelation 
of  Deity  was  in  close  fellowship  with  the  Eternal  Father. 
"  The  Word  tabernacled  among  us,"  that  is,  took  up  His 


74  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

manifest  dwelling-place  in  proximity  to  the  human  race, 
as  close  as  that  which  characterized  His  relation  to  the 
Eternal  Father.  He  stooped  into  an  actual  identification 
with  human  nature,  and  by  that  stoop  lifted  human  nature 
into  the  spaciousness  of  fellowship  with  God. 

This,  however,  let  it  be  stated  in  advance,  is  not  the  doc- 
trine of  Atonement.  In  the  Person  of  Jesus,  God  has 
come  into  new  and  mystic  relationship  with  unfallen  hu- 
manity ;  and  in  the  life  of  Jesus,  God  in  relation  with 
unfallen  humanity,  tabernacles  among  fallen  man.  Some- 
thing more  will  be  necessary  to  make  possible  union  be- 
tween the  members  of  a  fallen  race,  and  this  new  Head  of 
an  unfallen  race.  That  something  more  will  be  accom- 
plished by  the  way  of  the  Cross  to  be  considered  in  due 
course. 

"  And  the  Word  was  God."  The  final  declaration  is 
that  of  the  supreme  Deity  of  the  Word,  and  thus  the  Per- 
son of  Christ  is  safe-guarded  from  any  interpretation  which 
would  place  Him  in  infinite  superiority  to  the  human  race, 
and  yet  in  inferiority  to  essential  Deity.  He  was  God, 
and  yet  in  His  Person  there  was  not  all  the  truth  concern- 
ing God,  for  He  was  with  God.  He  was  with  God,  and 
yet  by  no  means  inferior  to  the  Eternal  Father,  for  He  was 
God.  The  unity  of  Deity  is  marked  by  the  word  "  God." 
The  diversity  is  marked  by  "the  Word."  The  God  Whof/«>J»' 
created,  the  Word  was  with.  In  the  revelation  of  Incar-  ■< 
nation,  the  phrase  answering  this  final  sentence  is  "  full  of 
grace  and  truth."  This  teaches  that  in  the  grace  or  loveli- 
ness, and  truth  or  righteousness  of  the  Man  seen  of  John 
and  the  rest,  there  was  an  outshining  of  the  essential  facts 
of  the  love  and  the  light  of  Deity. 

In  the  statement  of  Paul  the  same  great  truths  are 
affirmed  in  other  language.     From  the  passage  in  Philip- 


The  Great  Mystery — The  God-Man         75 

plans,  in  which  the  humiliation  and  exaltation  of  Christ 
are  so  splendidly  set  forth,  let  the  words  be  taken  which 
deal  immediately  with  this  fact.  "  Who,  existing  in  the 
form  of  God,  counted  not  the  being  on  an  equality  with 
God  a  thing  to  be  grasped,  but  emptied  Himself,  taking  the 
form  of  a  Servant,  being  made  in  the  likeness  of  men."  ' 
In  this  passage  there  is  first  stated  the  eternal  fact  concern- 
ino-  Christ,  "  existing  in  the  form  of  God."  Then  follows 
the  attitude  of  the  mind  of  the  Eternal  Word,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  call  for  redemption.  He  "counted  not  the 
being  on  an  equality  with  God  a  thing  to  be  grasped." 
Then  follows  the  sublime  act,  through  which  He  came  to 
the  level  of  those  needing  succour.  He  "  emptied  Him- 
self taking  the  forni,t)f  a  Servant,  being  made  in  the  like- 
ness of  men."  Carefully  note  three  facts  in  the  compass 
of  this  brief  passage.  First  it  declares  the  eternal  verity 
concerning  Christ.  He  existed  in  the  form  of  God,  on  an 
equality  with  God.  Second,  it  reveals  the  position  He 
took,  when  He  came  for  the  redemption  of  man.  He 
took  the  form  of  a  Servant  in  the  likeness  of  men. 

In  these  two  there  is  a  contrast.  Take  the  extreme 
statements,  and  He  is  seen  as  passing  from  the  form  of 
God  to  the  likeness  of  men  ;  and  taking  the  nearer  con- 
trast, He  is  seen  as  passing  from  the  Sovereignty  of  equality 
to  the  submission  of  subservience. 

The  third  fact  is  the  revelation  of  the  attitude  of  mind, 
and  the  act  of  will,  by  which  this  change  was  wrought. 
In  the  presence  of  a  great  need  He  did  not  hold  to,  or 
grasp  His  right  of  equality,  but  for  the  accomplishment  of 
an  Infinite  purpose,  abandoned  this.  The  action  of  the 
will  is  declared  in  the  sublime  and  all-inclusive  declaration 
that  He  emptied   Himself.     The   Eternal  Word   stooped 

»  Phil.  2 :  6,  7. 


76  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

from  the  position  of  an  Infinite  expression  to  the  limita- 
tions of  human  life. 

It  is  now  of  the  utmost  importance  to  understand  what 
is  involved  in  the  declaration  that  He  emptied  Himself. 
There  is  no  warrant  for  imagining  that  He  emptied  Himself 
of  His  essential  Deity.  The  emptying  indicates  the  setting 
aside  of  one  form  of  manifestation,  in  which  all  the  facts 
of  equality  with  God  were  evidently  revealed,  for  another 
form  of  manifestation,  in  which  the  fact  of  equality  with 
God  must  for  a  time  be  hidden,  by  the  necessary  submiss- 
iveness  of  the  human  to  the  Divine.  That  which  the 
Eternal  Word  Set  aside  was  a  form,  and  this  in  order  that 
another  form  might  be  taken.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that 
a  very  great  deal  depends  upon  the  meaning  of  the  word 
form. 

The  Greek  word  iJ-opPrj^  only  occurs  in  one  other  place 
in  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament.  In  speaking  of  an 
appearance  of  Christ  after  resurrection,  Mark  says,  "  After 
these  things  He  was  manifested  in  another  form  unto  two 
of  them,  as  they  walked,  on  their  way  into  the  country."^ 
Taking  this  use  of  the  word  for  the  sake  of  illustration,  it 
is  evident  that  the  change  was  not  in  the  essential  nature 
or  personality,  but  in  the  method  of  manifestation.  To 
the  men  who  walked  to  Emmaus  the  same  One  came,  but 
in  a  changed  form,  so  that  they  did  not  recognize  Him, 
until  He  willed  to  reveal  His  identity.  This  of  course 
by  comparison  with  the  subject  now  under  consideration 
was  but  a  small  change,  and  yet  it  serves  to  illustrate  the 
larger  fact. 

In  the  coming  of  the  Eternal  Word  to  the  earth  for  the 
.purposes  of  redemption.  He  did  not  lay  aside  the  essential 
fact  of  His  Deity.  He  simply  changed  the  form  of  mani- 
'  Mark  16:  12. 


The  Great  Mystery — The  God-Man         77 

festation.  It  would  seem  clearly  evident  that  the  Son  of 
God  had  forever  been  the  One  in  Whom  God  took  form, 
and  therefore  the  One  through  Whom  God  was  revealed.' 
The  Son  is  always  the  manifestation  of  the  Father. 
What  the  form,  what  the  manifestation  was  in  the  past,  it 
is  impossible  to  declare,  for  it  is  beyond  the  comprehension 
of  the  finite  and  the  limited.  This  alone  is  certain  that 
He  was  the  Word,  the  Speech,  the  Method  of  communica- 
tion of  the  Eternal  God.  For  the  redemption  of  man  He 
laid  aside  that  form,  whatever  it  may  have  been,  and  took 
a  new  form  for  manifesting  the  same  God,  a  form  upon 
which  men  might  look,  and  through  which,  in  the  process 
of  time,  they  might  come  to  know  the  Eternal  God.  If  it 
were  possible  for  a  moment  to  penetrate  the  mysteries  of 
the  past,  the  Son  would  be  seen  within  the  mystery  of  the 
Trinity,  as  the  perpetual  Medium  of  Divine  expression, 
just  as  the  Spirit  is  the  perpetual  Medium  of  Divine  con- 
sciousness. In  the  coming  to  the  level  of  man,  and  in  the 
taking  of  a  form  possible  of  comprehension  by  man,  it 
was  necessary  to  bring  the  illimitable  into  the  range  of  the 
limited.  He  passed  from  the  heavenly  to  the  earthly,  from 
the  infinite  to  the  finite,  that  is,  as  to  the  form  of  expres- 
sion. This  is  impossible  of  final  explanation.  It  is  how- 
ever a  mystery  revealed,  upon  which  the  whole  super- 
structure of  Christianity  depends.  It  would  seem  as 
though  the  eternal  heavens  were  for  a  period  emptied  of  the 
manifestation  of  God,  though  never  of  His  presence,  while 
for  the  work  of  redemption,  God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh. 
The  Word  passed  from  government  to  obedience,  from 
independent  cooperation  in  the  equality  of  Deity,  to  de- 
pendent submission  to  the  will  of  God.  By  the  way  of 
the  Incarnation  there  came  into  existence  a  Person  in  all 
points    human,   in    all    essentials    Divine.      In   all   points 


78  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

human,  that  is  to  say,  fulfilling  the  Divine  ideal  of  human 
nature,  not  descending  to  the  level  of  the  degradation  of 
humanity,  resulting  from  sin.  The  Man  of  Nazareth  was 
perfect  as  Man.  He  was  moreover  perfect  as  God,  lack- 
ing nothing  of  the  powers  of  essential  Deity,  save  only 
the  heavenly  form  of  manifestation. 

II.  At  this  point  the  temptation  is  to  ask  questions. 
These  may  be  asked,  but  they  cannot  be  answered.  Here 
is  the  sphere  in  which  faith  becomes  operative,  for  here 
the  mystery  is  seen  as  to  its  secret  things  which  belong  to 
God.  How  can  there  be  united  in  one  Person,  perfect  and 
complete  Deity,  and  perfect  and  complete  humanity  ?  It 
is  impossible  to  reply  to  the  "  how."  Will  not  these 
things,  however,  so  contradict  each  other  as  to  make  both 
impossible  ?  The  only  answer  is  that  they  did  not,  and 
that  through  all  the  life  of  Jesus,  there  were  constantly 
manifested  the  essential  and  absolute  nature  of  Deity, 
and  the  undoubted  facts  of  humanity.  There  are  no 
essentials  of  human  nature  that  cannot  be  discovered  in  the 
story  of  this  Person.  His  spiritual  nature  is  evidenced  by 
His  unceasing  recognition  of  God.  His  mental  capacity 
is  manifest  in  the  marvellous  majesty  of  His  dealing  with 
all  problems.  His  physical  life  is  seen  moving  along  the 
line  of  the  purely  human  in  its  hunger,  its  weariness,  its 
method  of  sustenance,  and  its  seasons  of  rest.  The 
human  will  is  seen,  but  always  choosing,  as  the  principle 
of  activity,  the  Divine  will.  The  emotional  nature  is 
manifest  in  the  tears  and  the  tenderness,  the  rebuke  and 
the  anger,  gleaming  with  soft  light,  flaming  as  the  lightning. 
The  intellectual  nature  is  seen  so  perfectly  balanced,  and 
so  wonderfully  equipped,  that  men  marvelled  at  His 
wisdom,  seeing,  as  they  said,  that  He  had  never  learned. 


The  Great  Mystery — The  God-Man        79 

Yet  moreover,  the  essentials  of  Deity  are  seen.  Such 
wisdom,  that  the  ages  have  failed  to  understand  perfectly 
the  deep  meaning  of  His  teaching.  Such  power,  that 
through  weakness  He  operated  towards  the  accomplishment 
of  works  that  were  only  possible  to  God.  Such  love,  that 
attempts  to  describe  it,  but  rob  it  of  its  fairest  glory. 

And  yet  again,  in  this  Person,  is  seen  the  merging  of  the 
Divine  and  the  human,  until  one  wonders  where  is  the  end- 
ing of  the  one  and  the  beginning  of  the  other.  Denouncing 
and  proclaiming  doom  upon  guilty  Jerusalem,  the  voice  is 
yet  choked  with  emotion,  and  the  face  is  wet  with  tears.  That 
is  surely  human.  And  yet  it  is  essentially  Divine,  for 
while  the  expression  of  the  emotion  is  human  as  all  tears 
are,  the  emotion  expressed  is  Divine,  for  none  but  God 
can  mingle  the  doom  of  the  guilty  with  the  tears  of  a  great 
pity.  ^ 

It  would  seem  as  though  there  were  no  adequate  naming 
of  this  Personality,  but  that  created  by  the  combination  of 
the  two  names  in  one.  He  was  the  God-man.  Not 
God  indwelling  a  man.  Of  such  there  have  been  many. 
Not  a  man  Deified.  Of  such  there  have  been  none  save 
in  the  myths  of  pagan  systems  of  thought ;  but  God  and 
man,  combining  in  one  Personality  the  two  natures,  a  per- 
petual enigma  and  mystery,  baffling  the  possibility  of  ex- 
planation. It  may  be  asked  how  if  indeed  He  were  God 
He  could  be  tempted  in  the  realm  of  humanity,  as  other 
men  are  tempted  ?  It  may  be  objected  that  had  He  been 
God,  He  could  not  have  spoken  of  the  limitation  of  His 
own  knowledge  concerning  things  to  come.  When  asked 
to  explain  these  things,  the  only  possible  answer  is  that 
they  do  not  admit  of  explanation,  but  they  remain  facts, 
proving  His  essential  humanity ;  while  on  the  other  hand 
are  the  incontrovertible  proofs  of  His  Deity,  in  the  activity 


8o  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

of  raising  the  dead,  and  in  the  matchless  wisdom  of  His 
teaching,  and  supremely  in  the  revelation  of  God,  which 
has  taken  hold  of,  and  influenced  the  whole  conception  of 
Deity  during  the  passing  of  the  centuries  since  His  life 
upon  earth. 

This  mystery  and  revelation  uniting  God  and  man  in  a 
Person  is  the  centre  of  Christianity,  and  is  without  parallel, 
and  without  possibility  of  explanation  by  analogy. 

It  has  been  objected  that  this  is  the  creation  of  the 
imagination  of  man.  This  however  is  to  presuppose  the 
possibility  of  an  exercise  of  the  imagination,  to  which  it  is 
wholly  unequal.  Imagination  can  only  rearrange  known 
facts.  The  poems  of  the  poet  may  be  new,  and  the  pic- 
ture of  the  artist  also,  but  in  each  case  upon  examination 
they  will  be  found  to  be  new,  in  their  combination  and 
representation  of  old  facts.  The  union  in  a  Person  of 
God  and  man  is  something  undreamed  of,  unknown,  until 
it  broke  upon  the  world  as  a  fact  in  human  history. 

III.  In  the  Gospels  there  are  three  expressions  de- 
scriptive of  Jesus  Christ,  which  are  suggestive  of  the  double 
fact  in  His  Personality,  a  contemplation  of  which  will  aid  in 
the  study  of  the  revealed  mystery.  The  first  of  them,  the 
Son  of  God,  indicates  the  Deity  of  Jesus,  and  yet  perfectly 
describes  His  humanity.  The  second,  the  Son  of  Man, 
indicates  His  relation  to  the  race,  and  yet  ever  suggests 
that  separateness  from  it,  which  was  created  by  the  fact  of 
His  Deity.  The  third,  the  Son,  always  suggests  the 
union  of  these  facts  in  the  unity  of  His  Person.  An 
examination  of  the  four  Gospels,  and  a  selection  from 
them  of  the  passages  in  which  these  titles  occur,  reveal 
certain  facts  of  interest  concerning  them. 

Taking  them  in  order,  the  term,  the  Son  of  God,  occurs 


The  Great  Mystery— The  God-Man        8i 

in  Matthew,  nine  times ;  in  Mark,  four  times ;  in  Luke,  six 
times ;  and  in  John  eleven  times.  The  title  in  Matthew  is 
never  used  by  Christ  Himself,  six  times  it  is  the  language 
of  men,  and  three  times  that  of  devils.  In  the  Gospel  of 
Mark  it  is  never  used  by  Christ,  but  by  men  twice,  by  devils 
twice.  In  the  Gospel  of  Luke  it  is  never  used  by  Christ, 
but  by  an  angel  once,  by  a  man  once,  and  by  devils  four 
times.  In  the  Gospel  of  John  the  title  is  on  five  occasions 
used  by  Jesus,  and  six  times  by  men.  It  is  interesting  to 
note  that  in  the  three  Gospels  dealing  principally  with  the 
humanity  of  Jesus,  He  is  never  recorded  as  having  spoken 
of  Himself  as  the  Son  of  God.  In  the  one  Gospel  of  His 
Deity,  He  is  recorded  as  having  used  the  expression  five 
times.  About  one  of  these  there  is  a  doubt,  for  it  is  not  at 
all  certain  whether  the  words  "  He  that  believeth  on  Him 
is  not  judged :  he  that  believeth  not  hath  been  judged 
already,  because  he  hath  not  believed  on  the  name  of  the 
only  begotten  Son  of  God,"  ^  do  not  form  part  of  John's 
commentary,  rather  than  of  the  actual  discourse  of  Jesus. 
Four  times  that  are  certain,  indicate  a  method  and  a  reason. 
Twice  He  so  described  Himself  in  answering  His  critics,^ 
once  when  He  brought  comfort  and  light  to  an  excom- 
municated man,^  and  once  when  He  would  succour  two 
broken-hearted  women,  whose  brother  Lazarus  He  was 
about  to  raise  from  the  dead.* 

The  term.  Son  of  Man,  occurs  in  Matthew  thirty-two 
times,  in  Mark  fifteen  times,  in  Luke  twenty-six  times,  and 
in  John  twelve  times.  In  the  first  three  Gospels,  the  title 
is  always  recorded  as  having  been  used  by  Christ  of  Him- 
self, and  never  by  angel,  by  man,  or  by  demon.  Of  the 
twelve  occasions  in  John,  ten  are  from  the  lips  of  Christ, 
twice  only  was  the  expression  used  by  men,  and  then  in 
'  John  3:18.      2  John  5  :  25  ;  10 :  36.      ^  John  9  :  35.      *  John  11:4. 


82  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

the  spirit  of  criticism  and  unbelief,  "  We  have  heard  out  of 
the  law  that  the  Christ  abideth  forever :  and  how  sayest 
Thou,  the  Son  of  Man  must  be  lifted  up  ?  Who  is  this 
Son  of  Man  ?  "  ' 

The  last  of  these  expressions,  the  Son,  the  greatest  of 
the  three,  without  either  qualifying  phrase,  and  therefore 
suggesting  both  relationships,  occurs  in  Matthew  four 
times,  in  Mark  once,  in  Luke  three  times,  and  in  John 
fifteen  times.  Without  a  single  exception  the  phrase  is 
used  by  Christ  Himself,  never  by  angel,  or  man,  or  demon. 

This  rapid  survey  shows  that  Christ's  favourite  expres- 
sion for  describing  Himself  is  the  one  which  veiled  His 
glory,  the  Son  of  Man.  He  most  often  described  Himself  in 
a  way  in  which  men  never  describe  Him,  save  when  repeat- 
ing His  own  language,  they  in  doubt  ask  what  He  meant. 
He  also  used,  and  He  alone,  the  expression,  the  Son,  sug- 
gesting in  the  light  of  the  other  two  expressions.  His  rela- 
tion to  the  Divine,  and  His  relation  to  the  human.  The 
expression  which  declared  His  essential  glory  only  passed 
His  lips,  in  all  probability,  four  times. 

The  value  of  this  examination  of  the  use  of  the  descrip- 
tive phrases  may  thus  be  stated.  He  was  the  Son  of  God, 
but  that  great  fact  never  passed  His  lips,  save  when  some 
pressing  circumstance  made  it  necessary  that  for  rebuke  or 
comfort  He  should  declare  the  Eternal  relationship  which 
He  bore  to  God.  The  title  which  He  seems  to  have 
loved  best,  was  that  which  marked  His  humanity,  and  His 
relationship  to  the  race,  the  Son  of  Man.  Occasionally, 
and  always  under  circumstances  of  special  need.  He  spoke 
of  Himself  as  the  Son. 

These  very  titles  suggest  the  essential  fact  concerning 
Him.     At  the  birth  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  there  came  into 

»John  12:  34. 


The  Great  Mystery — The  God-Man        83 

existence  One  Personality,  such  as,  with  reference  to  the 
duality  of  its  nature,  had  never  had  existence  before.  The 
Son  of  God  came  from  the  eternities.  The  Son  of  Man 
began  His  Being.  The  Son  combining  the  two  facts,  in 
one  Personality,  commenced  that  mighty  work  which  He 
alone  could  accomplish,  bringing  to  its  carrying  out  all  the 
forces  of  Deity,  in  union  with  the  capacities  of  humanity. 


THE  MEANING— GOD  WAS  IN  CHRIST 

Having  endeavoured  to  consider  the  sublime  fact  of  the 
Incarnation,  without  attempting  to  fathom  the  infinite  mys- 
tery, it  is  now  competent  to  enquire  what  was  the  purpose 
of  the  Incarnation.  The  question  may  immediately  be 
answered  in  the  brief  statement  of  Paul,  "  God  was  in 
Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  Himself."  ^  All  the  full- 
ness of  this  declaration  cannot  be  comprehended  until  the 
final  movements  in  the  mission  of  Jesus  have  been  con- 
sidered, those  namely  of  His  passion,  and  resurrection,  and 
ascension.  It  is  by  these  that  God  reconciles  the  world  to 
Himself  in  Christ.  The  first  fact  however,  rendering 
these  possible  of  accomplishment,  is  that  of  the  Incarnation, 
and  in  it  there  is  the  great  first  movement  towards  the  rec- 
onciling of  man  to  God. 

By  Incarnation  God  has  revealed  Himself  anew  to  the 
intelligence  of  man,  in  such  way  as  to  appeal  to  his  emo- 
tion, and  call  for  the  submission  of  his  will.  All  this  how- 
ever could  only  be  completed  by  the  completion  of  the 
work  of  Incarnation,  for  it  was  only  through  the  death  of 
Jesus  that  the  perfect  revelation  of  God  came  to  the  intel- 
ligence, as  it  was  only  through  that  death  that  a  reconcilia- 
tion could  be  accomplished,  which  should  have  as  its  foun- 
dation fact,  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  and  the  communication 
of  a  new  life  principle.     All  this  is  most  clearly  contained 

•  2  Cor.  5  :  19. 
84 


The  Meaning — God  was  in  Christ  85 

within  the  word  of  the  apostle,  who  in  writing  to  the  Co- 
lossians  declares  that  they  "  being  in  time  past  alienated  and 
enemies  in  your  mind  in  your  evil  works  "  were  "  now 
reconciled  in  the  body  of  His  flesh  through 
death."  *  Thus  the  reconciling  work  is  only  completed 
through  the  death  of  Jesus,  but  that  final  work  is  made 
possible  in  the  fact  of  "  the  body  of  His  flesh."  That  is  to 
say  that  Incarnation  prepares  for  Atonement.  The  present 
subject  is  wholly  that  of  the  revelation  God  has  given  man 
of  Himself  in  the  Person  of  the  Christ. 

In  previous  studies  it  has  been  shown  that  man  distanced 
from  God  by  sin  became  ignorant  of  Him,  and  unlike 
Him.  Notwithstanding  this  fact,  the  capacity,  and  indeed 
the  necessity  for  God  remains,  even  though  man  has  lost 
his  knowledge  of  Him,  his  love  for  Him,  and  his  likeness 
to  Him.  It  has  been  seen,  moreover,  that  the  only  con- 
ception of  God  that  man  has,  is  what  he  finds  within  him- 
self, and  in  attempting  to  think  of  God,  he  has  consciously 
or  unconsciously  always  projected  his  own  personality  into 
immensity.  This  would  have  been  a  true  thing  for  him  to 
do,  had  man  remained  true  to  the  Divine  ideal,  for  he  was 
created  in  the  image  of  God.  Seeing  that  the  shadow  had 
become  blurred,  and  the  image  defaced,  in  the  projection  of 
himself  man  has  emphasized  the  defects,  and  intensified  the 
ruin.  To  correct  that,  God  became  incarnate,  stooped  to 
the  level  of  man's  power  to  comprehend  Him,  gave  him  a 
perfect  Man  in  order  that  the  lines  projected  from  the  per- 
fect Personality  into  immensity  might  be  true  lines,  and  so 
reveal  correctly  the  facts  concerning  Himself. 

The  present  study  is  an  attempt  to  examine  that  broad 
statement,  first  by  noticing  how  the  Incarnation  has  cor- 
rected false  ideas ;  and  secondly,  by  examining  the  Incarna- 
'  Col.  I  :  21,  22. 


86  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

tion  as  the  fulfillment  of  all  that  was  highest  in  the  think- 
ing of  the  past,  and  the  beginning  of  a  new  understanding. 

I.  Man's  ideas  of  God  are  necessarily  anthropomorphic. 
Eliminating  for  the  moment  from  the  discussion  the  fact 
of  the  fall,  it  still  remains  true  that  man's  comprehension 
of  the  Eternal  God  must  necessarily  be  based  upon  the  | 
facts  of  his  own  personality.  When  man  stood  erect  in 
full  possession  of  the  facts  of  his  own  being,  he  was  in 
very  deed  in  the  shadow  and  image  of  God.  Essentially  a 
spirit,  possessed  of  an  intellectual,  an  afFectional,  and  a 
volitional  nature,  he  was  a  medium  through  which  these  es- 
sential facts  should  be  expressed  along  the  line  of  force  or 
power.  The  body  of  man  was  the  medium  of  the  spirit's 
expression.  Such  was  the  Divine  ideal  of  humanity,  spirit 
and  body ;  the  spirit  crowned,  the  body  subservient ;  the 
spiritual  nature  dominant,  the  physical  submissive  thereto. 
Therein  lay  a  suggestion,  and  indeed  a  revelation  concern- 
ing the  essential  facts  of  Deity.  God  is  a  Spirit,  intelli- 
gent, emotional,  volitional.  These  essential  facts  of  His 
being  govern  all  the  forces  of  His  nature,  and  so  find  ex- 
pression in  a  thousand  different  ways,  through  created 
things.  What  man's  body  is  to  his  spirit,  all  the  created 
universe  is  to  God.  The  Old  Testament  literature  is  full 
of  this  thought,  and  so  God  is  described  as  clothing  Him- 
self with  light,  as  riding  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind,  as 
making  the  clouds  His  chariot.  Thus  unfallen  man,  rev- 
erently projecting  the  facts  of  his  own  being  into  immen- 
sity, would  have  a  true  conception  of  God.  It  follows  by 
a  sequence  from  which  there  can  be  no  escape,  that  when 
man  has  fallen,  if  he  still  continue  the  same  process  he 
will  create  a  deity,  but  it  must  be  false,  a  contradiction  of 
the  truth,  because  man  himself  is  a  failure,  and  a  contra- 


The  Meaning — God  was  in  Christ  87 

vention  of  the  Divine  purpose.  In  man,  out  of  harmony 
with  God,  the  spiritual  fact  has  been  neglected,  with  the 
result  that  the  intelligence  operates  wholly  within  the  realm 
of  the  material,  the  affection  is  warped,  and  prostituted ; 
the  will  has  lost  its  true  principle  of  action.  Pro- 
ject these  things  into  immensity,  and  there  will  result  gods, 
or  a  god,  sensuous,  cruel,  tyrannical.  It  is  the  story  of  the 
religions  of  the  human  race. 

This  has  also  been  dealt  with  in  a  previous  chapter  as 
revealed  in  Baal,  in  Moloch,  in  Mammon.  New  emphasis 
is  added  to  the  fact  by  a  consideration  of  the  gods  of  Rome 
and  of  Greece.  In  each  case  the  deities  worshipped  were 
so  many,  that  no  man  pretended  to  know  their  number, 
and  the  character  of  them  may  be  described  in  very  few 
words,  vindictive,  lazy,  trivial,  always  seeking  their  own, 
treating  men  in  such  way  that  the  only  reason  why  men 
still  feared  or  served  them  was  that  they  would  buy  off  from 
vengeance,  and  prevent  their  cruelty.  In  the  presence  of 
this  universal  incapacity  to  discover  God,  what  can  be 
done  ?  The  answer  did  not  come,  as  it  could  not  come, 
from  man.     It  came  from  Qod. 

II.  In  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  God  gave  to  the  world  again 
a  Man,  perfect  in  His  humanity,  and  therefore  perfect  in 
His  revelation  of  the  facts  concerning  Himself.  In  Jesus 
there  was  a  fulfillment  of  all  that  was  highest  and  best  in 
the  ideas  of  God,  which  had  come  to  men  by  the  revela- 
tions of  the  past.  The  continuous  work  of  God  from  the 
moment  when  man  fell  from  his  high  dignity,  by  the  act 
of  his  rebellion,  and  so  obscured  his  vision  of  God,  was 
that  of  self-revelation.  Through  processes  that  were  long 
and  tedious,  judged  from  the  standpoint  of  human  lives, 
God  with  infinite  patience  spoke  in  simple  sentences,  shone 


88  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

forth  in  gleams  of  light,  and  so  kept  enshrined  within  the 
heart  of  man,  facts  concerning  Himself,  which  man  was  un- 
able to  discover  for  himself.  So  degraded  was  human  in- 
telligence, that  speaking  after  the  manner  of  men  only,  it 
may  be  said  that  it  took  whole  centuries  for  God  to  en- 
shrine in  the  consciousness  of  the  race,  some  of  the  simple 
and  most  fundamental  facts  concerning  Himself.  Man's 
ruin  was  so  terrible,  and  so  profound,  as  witness  the  dark- 
ened intelligence,  the  deadened  emotion,  and  the  degraded 
will,  that  there  was  but  one  alternative  open  to  the  Eternal 
God.  Either  He  must  sweep  out  and  destroy  utterly  the 
race,  or  else  in  infinite  patience,  and  through  long  processes, 
lead  it  back  to  Himself.  He  chose  the  pathway  of  recon- 
ciliation in  His  infinite  grace,  at  what  cost  the  story  of  the 
Christ  alone  perfectly  reveals. 

It  may  be  objected  that  Christ  might  have  been  imme- 
diately sent,  and  yet  this  is  utterly  to  fail  to  comprehend  the 
depth  of  the  degradation  of  man.  There  were  many  les- 
sons which  the  race  must  learn,  before  it  was  ready  to  re- 
ceive the  light  that  should  shine  in  the  Person  of  the 
Christ.  For  instance,  man  had  lost  his  conception  of  the 
unity  of  God,  and  was  making  to  himself  thousands  upon 
thousands  of  deities.  The  history  of  Israel  is  the  history 
of  the  enshrining  within  the  race  of  the  great  truth  of  the 
unity  of  God.  "  Hear,  O  Israel :  Jehovah  our  God  is  one 
Jehovah." '  That  was  the  initial  lesson,  and  yet  Israel 
never  learned  it  fully  until  she  had  passed  into  Babylonish 
captivity,  and  returning  therefrom,  abandoned  for  evermore 
every  form  of  idolatry. 

The  slowness  of  the  work  was  due  entirely  to  the  ruin 
of  the  only  instrument  through  which  a  perfect  revelation 
could   be  made.     God  cannot  be   as   perfectly   expressed 

>  Deut.  6 :  4. 


The  Meaning — God  was  in  Christ  89 

through  any  symbol   as  through   a  man.     Not  through   a 
system    of  ethics    could    God    make   Himself   known,  as 
through  one  who  lives  wholly  within  His  law.     In  the  full- 
ness of  time  there  came  into  human  history  the  Revealer. 
Man  everywhere  had  been  attempting  to  discover  God  by 
the  projection  into  infinitude  of  his  own  personality,  and  had 
utterly,   and    absolutely,   and    necessarily    failed.     By   the  / 
coming    of   Christ,  God   gave  man    One   Who,  perfectly  i 
realizing  His  ideal  of  humanity,  made  a  perfect  instrument  I 
through  which  God  should  reveal  Himself  to  the  heart  of 
the  race.     Jesus  was  the  express   Image  of  God.     From 
every  fact  in  the  Personality  of  the  Man  Jesus,  lines  may 
be  projected  into  infinity,  and  the  infinite  enlargement  of 
the  Person  of  Christ  correctly  reveals  the  fact  of  God.     In 
Incarnation  God  accepts  the  human  standpoint  of  apprecia- 
tion of  Himself,  which  was  also  His  own  standpoint,  and  ( 
enshrining  Himself  in  human  life.  He  thinks.  He  speaks, 
He  acts  through  human  channels. 

Think  then  for  a  moment  of  the  Personality  of  Christ, 
in  order  that  it  may  be  seen  how  within  the  compass  of 
that  which  is  knowable  to  man,  lies  a  revelation  of  that 
which  otherwise  is  utterly  unknowable.  In  that  perfect 
Personality  there  is  found  perfect  humanity,  humanity  which 
in  itself  harmonizes  the  spiritual  and  the  material,  humanity 
in  which  the  spirit  is  dominant,  and  the  body  subservient 
and  expressive.  In  Jesus  the  physical  is  not  scourged,  and 
bruised,  but  governed  and  glorified.  In  Him  the  Spirit  is 
not  imprisoned  and  degraded,  but  enthroned  and  dominant. 
He  is  a  perfect  human  Personality. 

When  these  lines  of  perfect  humanity  are  flung  out  into 
the  infinitudes,  there  is  presented  to  the  mind  the  perfect 
Deity,  the  spiritual  essence  dominant,  while  all  force,  as 
expressed  through  creation,  is  subservient  to  spirit.    Every 


90  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

fact  of  the  clear  shining  of  the  wisdom  of  the  Christ,  as 
Man,  reveals  the  infinite  wisdom  of  the  Eternal  God. 
Every  manifestation  of  the  unselfish  and  unwearying  love  of 
the  heart  of  Jesus,  is  an  outshining  of  the  Eternal  and  undy- 
ing love  of  God  Himself.  Every  movement  and  decision 
of  the  will  of  Jesus,  under  the  constraint  of  the  Divine  will, 
is  a  revelation  of  the  action  and  method  of  the  will  of  God, 
under  the  constraint  of  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  Love. 

The  God-man  then  is  the  gateway  between  God  and 
man.  Through  Him  God  has  found  His  way  back  to 
man,  from  whom  He  had  been  excluded  by  his  rebellion. 
In  Him  man  finds  his  way  back  to  God  from  Whom  he 
had  been  alienated  by  the  darkening  of  his  intelligence,  the 
death  of  his  love,  and  the  disobedience  of  his  will.  God 
finds  Himself  in  this  Person  and  is  with  men.  Man  finds 
himself  in  this  Person,  and  is  with  God. 

Through  the  God-man,  Deity  takes  hold  upon  humanity. 
Through  the  God-man,  humanity  takes  hold  upon  Deity. 

This  revelation  of  God  in  Jesus  may  be  illustrated  both 
by  His  teaching,  and  His  deeds.  Let  there  be  selected  any 
word  that  fell  from  His  lips,  any  incident  of  His  wonder- 
ful life,  and  when  carefully  considered,  it  will  be  discovered 
that  there  is  sounding  in  the  air  the  very  Word  of  God,  and 
appearing  before  the  mind  His  activity.  The  simplest 
simplicity  of  humanity  to  be  found  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is 
the  gateway  through  which  the  reverent  and  submissive 
soul  passes  into  the  sublimest  sublimity  of  Deity. 

His  teaching  was  the  sum  of  all  wisdom.  The  sweet  and 
tender  words  that  come  like  music  still,  to  all  who  in  the 
stress  and  strain  of  life  hear  them,  "  Come  unto  Me,  all 
ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest.  Take  My  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  Me ;  for  I 
am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart :  and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto 


The  Meaning — God  was  in  Christ  91 

your  souls.  For  My  yoke  is  easy,  and  My  burden  is 
light,"  ^  are  yet  the  words  that  none  but  God  could  have 
uttered  in  the  hearing  of  the  restless  feverishness  of  a  fallen 
race.  How  human  the  utterance.  Take  out  the  words 
that  arrest  attention,  "  Come  .  .  .  labour 
heavy  laden  .  .  .  rest  .  .  .  yoke  .  .  .  bur- 
den." Is  there  one  of  them  that  sounds  at  first  like  the 
language  of  the  infinite  God,  or  the  speech  of  the  perfect 
heaven  ?  The  whole  passage  thrills  and  throbs  with  a 
common  consciousness  of  human  life.  Yet  sit  down  in 
front  of  it,  and  take  time  to  think.  Press  the  ear  closely 
to  these  little  words  of  earthly  value,  and  there  will  be  , 
heard  sounding  through  them  the  deep  organ  notes  of 
the  Eternal  Wisdom.  The  tender  call  of  the  man  is 
the  putting  into  such  words  as  may  be  heard  and  under- 
stood by  the  heavy  laden  masses,  all  the  deepest  philoso- 
phies of  life.  Surely  never  man  spake  like  this  Man.  The 
speech  of  this  Man  is  the  speech  of  God. 

Or  take  His  deeds,  any  of  them.  Take  them  almost  at 
haphazard.  The  cleansing  of  the  temple,  the  nursing  of 
little  children,  the  human  interest  that  watched  people  as 
they  gave  at  the  treasury,  the  tears  which  chased  each 
other  down  the  face,  the  white  hot  anger  that  flamed  and 
burned  and  scorched.  And  yet  behind  all  is  the  evident 
going  of  Deity,  not  one  of  them  have  explanation  apart 
therefrom.  Let  any  man  who  imagines  that  the  cleansing 
of  the  temple  was  a  purely  human  act,  possess  himself  of  a 
whip  of  small  cords,  and  attempt  to  drive  out  the  vested 
interests  and  the  hoary  superstitions,  which  gather  around 
and  spoil  the  temple  which  should  be  a  place  of  prayer.  It 
is  simply  absurd  to  suppose  that  the  men  who  fled  from 
His  presence  were  frightened  of  a  Galilean  peasant.  That 
'  Matt.  1 1  :  28-30. 


92  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

anger  at  the  desecrated  house  of  God,  which  flamed  from 
His  eye,  and  made  His  whole  demeanour  terrifying,  was 
the  flashing  forth  of  the  outraged  God,  Whose  house  of 
succour  had  been  made  a  den  of  thieves.  It  is  not  con- 
ceivable that  a  mob  of  Jews  would  yield  their  money  tables 
to  the  claim  of  a  peasant  fresh  from  Galilee.  They  were 
conscious  for  once  of  the  anger  of  Deity, 

It  was  indeed  a  Man  Who  took  the  children  in  His  arms 
and  blessed  them.  The  picture  is  so  human,  so  suggestive 
of  all  that  is  finest  and  most  beautiful  in  true  manhood  ; 
and  yet  listen,  for  He  is  speaking,  and  the  word  is  revolu- 
tionary and  yet  authoritative.  "  Suff^er  the  little  children, 
and  forbid  them  not,  to  come  unto  Me  :  for  to  such  be- 
longeth  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven."^  If  this  Man  be  Man 
alone.  He  is  an  ignorant  fanatic.  The  children  were  never 
counted  as  in  the  Kingdom  of  God,  until  from  the  sacred 
rite  of  confirmation,  they  became  themselves  sons  of  the 
law.  Yet  this  Man,  holding  in  His  arms  young  children, 
babes,  says  that  they  are  the  true  type  of  the  character  of 
such  as  are  in  His  Kingdom.  The  centuries  have  vindi- 
cated the  declaration,  and  have  proved  that  it  was  the  voice 
of  God,  rebuking  false  conceptions  of  human  greatness, 
which  cured  human  thinking,  and  announced  the  supremacy 
of  simplicity. 

And  yet  again,  it  was  a  great  human  heart  that  shook 
with  emotion,  and  cast  forth  tears  when  from  the  mountain 
He  beheld  the  city  of  His  love,  corrupt,  and  hastening  to 
her  doom.  And  yet  it  is  unthinkable  that  that  is  all,  for  in 
the  tears  is  caught  the  flash  and  glory  of  that  Divine  com- 
passion, which  pronounces  doom,  not  with  the  note  of  ex- 
ultant triumph,  but  with  the  pathos  of  wounded  love. 

The  teaching  of  Jesus,  considered  and  followed  to  its 
'  Matt.  19  :  14. 


The  Meaning — God  was  in  Christ  93 

final  conclusions,  brings  the  mind  into  contact  with  the 
infinite  wisdom  of  the  Eternal  God.  The  deeds  of  Jesus, 
correctly  appreciated,  reveal  the  activities  of  God  as  to 
purpose  and  method. 

The  Incarnation  is  first  a  revelation  to  man  of  man  as 
to  first  Divine  intention.  It  is  therefore  also  a  revelation 
of  God,  for  perfect  man  is  the  image  of  God.  In  Jesus 
there  has  been  revealed  to  the  race  God's  purpose  for  every 
human  being,  a  mind  of  royal  and  loyal  love,  and  the  ac- 
tivity of  self-emptying  service,  as  expressive  of  that 
loyalty.  The  greatest  injunction  laid  upon  Christian  men 
by  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  is  that  of  the  apostle, 
"  Have  this  mind  in  you,  which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus."  ^ 
His  mind  was  the  mind  wholly  actuated  by  the  principle 
of  love.  It  was  submissive  and  regnant,  submissive  to  the 
dominion  of  love,  reigning  in  the  power  of  love. 

From  this  consideration  of  ideal  man,  there  breaks  upon 
the  consciousness  the  truth  concerning  God.  In  Jesus, 
man  finds  Him  for  Whom  he  has  been  searching,  and  be- 
ing unable  to  find,  has  created  the  false  deities  that  have 
cursed  his  whole  life.  According  to  this  revelation,  God's 
knowledge  is  the  knowledge  of  personal  interest  in  all  His 
creation.  His  affection  joys  in  the  joy  of  His  people,  and 
sorrows  in  the  midst  of  their  sorrows.  His  will  is  ever 
impulsed  by  this  perfect  affection,  and  operates  within  this 
intimate  knowledge.  These  truths,  too  large  for  perfect 
comprehension,  are  yet  recognized  as  the  lines  project 
from  the  unique  Personality  of  Jesus  into  immensity. 
Through  the  Man  Jesus,  man  has  found  God.  He  had 
built  upon  his  ruined  nature  a  false  conception  of  God,  but 
now  upon  the  perfect  nature  of  the  last  Adam,  man  forms 
a  correct  idea  of  the  infinite  God.  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is 
iPhil.  2:  5. 


94  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

perfect  in  His  humanity.  That  humanity  is  the  corner- 
stone, and  if  its  lines  are  all  carried  forth,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  corner-stone  of  the  pyramid,  the  whole  fact  will  be  in- 
cluded. 

The  value  of  the  Incarnation  then  at  once  becomes  ap- 
parent. Human  misconceptions  of  God  have  created  hu- 
man hatred  of  God.  The  hatred  of  the  human  heart 
therefore  is  not  hatred  of  the  true  God,  for  He  is  not 
known.  In  Christ  He  is  revealed,  and  when  men  know 
Him  as  the  Revealer,  they  love  Him. 

Much  more  of  course  needs  to  be  said,  as  in  the  mission 
of  Christ  much  more  needed  to  be  done,  for  though  the 
light  of  Deity  has  perfectly  shone  in  the  Person  of  the 
Christ,  man  does  not  see  it.  Something  must  be  done  to 
quicken  his  intelligence,  to  open  his  eye.  That,  the  Incar- 
nation does  not  do.  It  provides  the  true  view  of  God  for 
the  quickened  intelligence.  In  the  present  study  the  sub- 
ject is  merely  that  of  the  Divine  self-revelation,  contained 
within  the  Incarnation.  When  man  through  the  mystery  of 
Atonement,  is  reconciled,  and  the  miracle  of  regeneration 
is  completed,  then  in  the  vision  of  God  granted  in  Christ,  he 
will  also  be  reconciled  in  intelligence,  in  emotion,  in  will. 

Thus  the  Incarnation  has  made  provision  for  the  rec- 
onciliation of  the  whole  man,  but  into  this  reconciliation  man 
will  only  pass  as  he  becomes  reconciled  through  the  death 
of  Jesus.  When  so  reconciled,  his  full  salvation  will  pro- 
ceed through  the  harmonizing  of  the  facts  of  his  being,  with 
the  revelation  of  the  possibilities  thereof  in  the  Man  Jesus, 
under  the  constraint  of  the  infinite  love  of  God  revealed  also 
in  Him.  "  If  while  we  were  enemies,  we  were  recon- 
ciled to  God  through  the  death  of  His  Son,  much  more,  be- 
ing reconciled,  shall  we  be  saved  by  His  life."  ^ 
'  Romans  5  :  lo. 


VI 

SIGNS  TO  THE  SONS  OF  MEN 

So  far  as  man  was  concerned  there  was  a  marked  un- 
preparedness  for  the  advent  of  Jesus.  Yet  He  came  in  the 
fullness  of  time.  Everything  was  ready  in  the  purpose  and 
economy  of  God.  But  while  there  was  a  general  spirit  of 
unrest  and  undefined  expectation  abroad  in  the  world, 
neither  His  own  nation  nor  the  Gentile  world  were  pre- 
pared for  the  appearing  of  the  Messiah. 

With  regard  to  Israel  it  was  true  that  "  He  came  unto 
His  own,  and  they  that  were  His  own  received  Him  not."  ^ 
They  did  not  receive  Him,  because  partial  blindness  had 
fallen  upon  them  even  in  regard  to  their  own  prophecies. 
It  is  remarkable  that  these  people  who  possessed,  and  were 
supposed  to  be  instructed  in,  the  prophecies  concerning  the 
Messiah,  had  almost  altogether  lost  sight  of  one  side  of  the 
prophetic  message  concerning  Him. 

Isaiah  had  portrayed,  in  unmistakable  lines,  and  with 
detailed  definiteness,  the  picture  of  the  suffering  Servant  of 
God.  How  wonderfully  the  fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah 
was  realized  in  the  Person  of  Jesus  Christ.  But  these 
people  had  not  begun  to  understand  the  fact  of  the  sufi^er- 
ing  of  Messiah ;  they  had  no  conception  of  a  lowly,  de- 
spised, and  rejected  Deliverer.  They  expected  One  Who 
should  set  up  a  kingdom  of  earthly  power.  And  when  He 
came  from  lowly  and  despised  Nazareth,  and  took  the  posi- 
tion of  the  Son  of  God,  they  were  incredulous,  unbeliev- 
1  John  I  :  II. 
95 


96  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

ing,  simply  because  they  had  not  understood  their  own 
Scriptures. 

The  same  prophet  had  announced  the  fact  of  the  incar- 
nation. "  Behold,  a  virgin  shall  conceive,  and  bear  a  son, 
and  shall  call  His  name  Immanuel."  ^  To  the  Hebrevi^ 
that  vv^as  a  descriptive  name,  and  the  simple  meaning  of 
Immanuel  was  "  God  with  us."  It  was  the  distinct  fore- 
telling of  the  stupendous  fact  that  He  should  be  the  God- 
man,  but  they  had  never  realized  it.  The  people  had 
largely  lost  their  spiritual  sense,  and  were  looking  only  for 
the  advent  of  a  great  prince  who  should  deliver  them  from 
the  bondage  of  Roman  tyranny,  unmindful  of  the  more 
awful  slavery  of  materialism.  They  had  no  conception 
of  the  Servant  of  God  as  lowly  and  suffering,  neither  of 
that  deeper  and  sublimer  truth  that  God  would  be  manifest 
in  the  flesh ;  consequently  there  was  no  preparation  for 
His  coming,  no  official  national  recognition  of  the  advent. 

Turning  from  His  own  people  to  the  Gentile  world, 
what  was  the  condition  of  affairs  ?  The  three  great  world- 
forces  when  He  came  were  the  Roman,  the  Greek,  and 
the  Hebrew.  The  Roman  was  the  nation  of  government, 
the  Greek  of  culture,  and  the  Hebrew  of  religion.  The 
militarism  of  Rome  utterly  despised  Judaea,  looking  down 
upon  it  as  one  of  the  small  and  turbulent  provinces,  always 
to  be  kept  in  subjection.  The  Roman  was  certainly  not 
waiting  for  a  new  king  to  be  born  in  Judaea. 

And  what  was  the  attitude  of  Greece  ?  The  cultured 
men  of  Greece  held  in  contempt  the  religion  of  the  He- 
brews. Hellenism  and  Hebraism  were  utterly  opposed  as 
ideals  of  life.  The  Greek  would  have  treated  with  the 
utterest  scorn  the  idea  that  a  new  teacher  could  arise  out 
of  Hebraism.  All  this  serves  to  show  that  there  was  not, 
1  Isa.  7  :  14. 


Signs  to  the  Sons  of  Men  97 

neither  could  there  be,  any  welcome  to  the  Saviour  from 
the  world  as  it  was  when  He  came.  He  was  neither  ex- 
pected nor  desired.  All  the  known  world  was  in  a  spirit 
of  unrest,  but  men  had  no  conception  of  the  character  of 
the  deliverance  really  needed,  and  therefore  Jesus  came  un- 
recognized and  unknown.  There  was  no  welcome  for 
Him. 

But  the  time  was  now  ripe  in  the  economy  of  God  for 
His  advent,  for  man  in  sin  had  sunk  to  deepest  depths. 
The  world  has  never  had  a  more  powerful  government  than 
the  Roman,  and  in  many  respects  Greek  culture  has  never 
been  surpassed  ;  but  in  spite  of  all  this,  sin  was  rampant. 
While  there  still  exists  terrible  corruption  in  the  world  to- 
day, there  is  nothing  to  compare  with  the  pollution  of  life 
when  Jesus  Christ  came.  Corruption  was  everywhere,  and 
that  in  spite  of  the  best  that  men  could  do  in  government, 
in  culture,  and  in  religion. 

But  though  there  was  no  human  welcome  to  Christ, 
God  granted  to  the  men  of  that  day  certain  signs  that  were 
wholly  supernatural  and  remarkable. 

These  were  of  two  kinds, — direct  and  indirect.  Of  the 
first  there  were  three, — the  star  that  led  the  wise  men  to 
Christ ;  the  angelic  ministry  renewed  at  the  time  of  the 
advent,  and  the  fulfilling  and  renewal  of  the  voices  of 
prophecy.  All  these  were  definite  signs,  pointing  to  Him, 
directing  attention  to  Him,  in  a  world  where  men  were  not 
prepared  to  accept  Him,  and  did  not  welcome  Him,  as  the 
One  sent  from  God  for  the  fulfillment  of  the  Divine 
purpose. 

I.     Of  the  sign  of  the  star  in  the  East  ^  a  great  many  ex- 
planations have  been  attempted,  with  a  view  to  accounting 
1  Matt.  2 :  1, 2. 


98  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

for  it  in  other  than  a  supernatural  way,  which  if  they  were 
not  sad,  would  be  amusing.  Men  have  attempted  to  prove 
that  it  was  simply  the  ordinary  movement  of  some  star 
which  attracted  the  attention  of  these  men.  The  evident 
sense  of  Scripture  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  a  spe- 
cial Divine  arrangement.  There  was  in  the  shining  of 
that  star  a  signification  which  led  these  men  from  their 
country  to  the  place  where  Jesus  was  born.  It  was  an  ex- 
traordinary and  special  movement  in  the  stellar  spaces,  de- 
signed to  lead  these  men  to  Christ.  One  of  the  most 
poetic  thoughts  about  that  star  fell  from  the  lips  of  a 
Welsh  preacher.  He  suggested  that  it  may  have  been 
the  embodying  of  the  Shekinah  glory  of  old,  which 
had  been  homeless  since  the  infidelity  of  God's  people, 
and  now  went  outside  the  covenant  to  bring  men  back 
to  the  true  ark  of  the  covenant,  its  abiding  home  hence- 
forth. This  star  shone  in  an  unexpected  place,  outside 
of  the  covenant,  to  attract  men  to  the  privileges  of  the 
covenant. 

It  has  been  often  said  that  the  magi  were  kings.  There 
seems  to  be  no  warrant  for  the  statement.  More  probably 
they  were  priests  in  their  own  country.  The  word  is  of 
Aryan  derivation.  These  men  in  all  likelihood  came  from 
Persia,  and  had  devoted  their  life  to  the  study  of  the  stars. 
They  were  astrologers.  In  these  times  men  smile  at  as- 
trology ;  but  it  should  never  be  forgotten  that  astrology 
preceded  astronomy,  as  alchemy  preceded  chemistry.  Israel 
had  been  under  Persian  rule,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
men  of  Persia  had  become  acquainted  with  much  of  the 
religion  and  hope  of  the  Hebrew ;  and  they  would  in  all 
likelihood  be  specially  attracted  by  such  predictions  as 
coincided  with  their  own  religious  habits.  In  all  probabil- 
ity they  knew  the   prophecy  about   the   star  out  of  Jacob, 


Signs  to  the  Sons  of  Men  99 

the  sceptre  out  of  Judah.^  They  knew  that  this  star  in- 
dicated the  birth  of  a  king,  so  that  when  they  came  they 
said,  "  Where  is  He  that  is  born  king  of  the  Jews,  for  we 
saw  His  star  in  the  east,  and  are  come  to  worship  Him."  ^ 
This  sign  within  the  radius  of  their  own  observation  led 
them  to  the  fulfillment  of  what  was  best  in  their  thought 
and  service.  That  has  always  been  the  way  with  devout 
seekers  after  truth.  God  reveals  Himself  to  them  at  the 
point  where  they  are  sincere  seekers.  The  first  sign  of  the 
advent  of  Christ  was  the  star  which  shone  in  the  darkness 
of  an  outside  nation. 

Next  there  was  the  sign  of  the  angelic  ministry, — the 
message  to  Zacharias;^  the  message  to  Mary ;  *  the  word  to 
Joseph;^  the  first  solo  of  the  advent  over  the  plains  of 
Bethlehem.  ^  An  angel  announced  the  coming  of  the  fore- 
runner to  Zacharias ;  an  angel  announced  to  Mary  that 
she  should  bring  forth  a  son ;  an  angel  warned  Joseph,  and 
led  him  out  of  peril;  an  angel  sang  the  song  of  the  advent 
to  the  shepherds,  and  was  joined  by  a  multitude  of  the 
heavenly  chorus.  So  that  the  angels  who  had  so  long  been 
silent,  came  again  to  announce  the  advent  on  earth  of  their 
King. 

But  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  sign  was  that  of  the 
voices  of  prophecy.  They  had  been  silent  from  the  time 
of  Malachi  until  the  advent  of  Messiah.  In  dealing  with 
the  voices  of  prophecy,  there  is  first  the  fulfillment  of 
prophecy  in  the  coming  of  Jesus ;  and  secondly  the  utter- 
ing of  the  new  prophecies  in  connection  therewith.  Mat- 
thew deals  only  with  the  old  voices.  In  Luke,  on  the  con- 
trary, the  voices  of  the  old  prophets  are  not  referred  to  j  all 

'  Num.  24 :  17.  '  Matt.  2:2.  3  Luke  1 :  1 1. 

4  Luke  1 :  26.  *Matt.  i  :  20.  ^Luke  2:  10-12. 


lOO  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

are  new.*  In  Luke  are  found  the  new  voices  to  Zacharias, 
to  Mary,  and  Elizabeth  in  the  first  chapter;  to  Simeon,  and 
Anna  in  the  second  chapter.  Christ  was  coming  unrecog- 
nized and  unwelcome,  but  all  the  voices  of  prophecy  of  the 
past  were  being  fulfilled  in  Him,  and  in  Elizabeth,  Mary, 
and  Anna,  Simeon  and  Zacharias,  new  powers  of  prophecy 
gained  inspiration  from  His  advent.  Add  to  these  the 
voice  of  the  forerunner  which,  in  the  period  immediately 
preceding  the  opening  of  the  public  ministry  of  Christ,  at- 
tracted crowds  to  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  and  moved  the 
nation  to  its  very  centre.  This  new  prophetic  manifesta- 
tion centring  in  Jesus  was  an  unmistakable  sign  to  the 
sons  of  men  of  the  Divine  nature  of  His  mission. 

n.  Beyond  these  there  were  indirect  signs.  In  connec- 
tion with  the  visit  of  the  magi,  remember  their  testimony 
to  Herod  and  to  Jerusalem,  the  splendour  of  their  gifts,  and 
their  attitude  to  the  Child.  These  all  constituted  signs  to 
men.  They  brought  gifts  for  a  monarch,  and  the  signifi- 
cance of  their  visit  is  seen  in  Herod's  terror.  He  knew 
what  it  meant.  It  was  a  sign  to  royalty,  this  bringing  of 
rich  gifts. 

Then  again  there  was  the  story  that  the  shepherds  told, 
at  which  the  people  wondered, — a  strange  story  that  spread 
over  that  whole  district.^ 

There  was  also  the  sign  of  the  slaughter  of  the  inno- 
cents. All  these  were  such  as  to  arrest  the  attention  of 
the  people.  The  star  in  the  East,  the  visit  of  the  magi,  the 
story  of  the  shepherds,  the  slaughter  of  the  innocents,  the 

'  The  Scriptures  which  speak  of  the  old  voices  are  Matt.  1 :  23 ;  2:6, 

15.  17.  23- 
The    Prophecies   to   which  they  refer  are   Isa.  7  :  14 ;  Micah  5:2; 

Hosea  11  :   i  ;  Jer.  31  :   15,  and  Isa.  53  :  3. 

»Luke  2:   18. 


Signs  to  the  Sons  of  Men  loi 

songs  of  the  angels,  all  directed  attention  to  the  advent  of 
Jesus.  The  heavens  gave  their  testimony,  and  became 
luminous  u^ith  a  new  light  at  night.  The  stellar  spaces 
spoke  by  the  appearance  of  a  new  star,  which  arrested  the 
attention  of  the  men  who  watched  the  heavens.  Heaven 
as  well  as  earth  was  moved  at  the  advent,  and  hell  itself 
was  moved,  as  is  shown  by  the  stirring  up  of  the  hatred  of 
Herod's  heart,  and  the  awful  slaughter  of  the  innocents. 

These  signs  were  sufficient  to  attract  attention,  and  point 
to  the  advent  of  Christ,  but  there  were  (ew  to  read  the 
signs  of  the  times,  and  not  until  long  after,  did  men  begin 
to  understand  the  deep  significance  of  these  signals  of  the 
advent.  To-day  men  understand  them  in  part,  and  every 
day  are  coming  to  realize  more  and  more  their  deep  signifi- 
cance. 


BOOK  II 

THE  BAPTISM 


VII.  The  Parting  of  the  Ways 
VIII.  Light  on  the  Hidden  Years 
IX.  The  Vision  of  John 


' My  Lord  at  home 

Bright  in  the  full  face  of  the  dawning  day 

Stood  at  His  carpentry^  and  azure  air 

Inarched  Him^  scattered  with  the  glittering  green  . 

I  saw  Him  standings  I  saw  His  face ^  I  saw 

His  even  eyebrows  over  eyes  grey-blue^ 

From  whence  with  smiling  there  looked  out  on  me 

A  welcome  and  a  wonder^—''  Mine  so  soon  ?  ' 

Ah^  tne^  how  sweet  and  unendurable 

Was  that  confronting  beauty  of  the  boy  ! 


And  once  again  I  saw  Him^  in  latter  days 
Fraught  with  a  deeper  meanings  for  He  came 
To  7ny  baptizing^  and  the  infinite  air 
Blushed  on  His  comings  and  all  the  earth  was  still ; 
Gentle  He  spake  ;   I  answered ;   God  from  heaven 
Called^  and  I  hardly  heard  Hitn^  such  a  love 
Streamed  in  that  orison  from  man  to  man. 
Then  shining  from  His  shoulders  either-way 
Fell  the  food  "Jordan^  and  His  kingly  eyes 
Looked  in  the  east^  and  star-like  met  the  sun. 
Once  in  no  manner  of  similitude., 
And  twice  in  thunderings  and  thrice  in  flame .^ 
The  Highest  ere  now  hath  shown  Him  secretly ; 
But  when  from  heaven  the  visible  Spirit  in  air 
Came  verily,  lighted  on  Him.,  was  alone., 
Then  knew  /,  then  I  said  it.,  then  I  saw 
God  in  the  voice  and  glory  of  a  man." 

— Frederick  W.  H.  Myers. 

"  Saint  John  the  Baptist." 


Then  cometh  Jesus  from  Galilee  to  the  Jordan  unto  John,  to  be 
baptized  of  him.  But  John  would  have  hindered  Hini,  saying,  I 
have  need  to  be  baptized  of  Thee,  'diiU  comest  Thcu  to  me?  But 
fesus  answering  said  unto  him.  Suffer  it  now  :  for  thus  it  becometh 
us  to  fulfill  all  righteousness.  Then  he  suffereth  Him.  x'ind  Jesus, 
when  He  was  baptized,  went  up  straightway  froni  li-.;  water  :  and 
lo,  the  heavens  were  opened  unto  Him,  and  lie  saw  the  Spirit  of 
God  descending  as  a  dove,  and  coming  upon  Him  ;  and  lo,  a  voice 
out  of  the  heavens,  saying.  This  is  My  beloved  Son,  in  Whom  I 
am  well  pleased. — Matt,  j  :  ij-jy. 

And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days,  ihat  Jesus  came  from  Naza- 
reth of  Galilee,  and  was  baptized  of  John  in  the  lordan.  And 
straightway  coming  up  out  of  the  water.  He  saw  the  heavens  rent 
asunder,  and  the  Spirit  as  a  dove  desi  ending  upon  Him :  and  a 
voice  came  out  of  the  heavens,  Thou  art  My  brieve  i  Son,  in  Thee 
I  am  well  pleased. — Mark  i  :  Q-i  i. 

Now  it  came  to  pass,  when  all  the  people  were  baptized,  that, 
Jesus  also  having  been  baptized  and  praying,  the  heaven  was 
opened,  and  the  Koly  Spirit  descended  'n  a  '  'odilv  form,  as  a  dove, 
upon  Him,  and  a  voice  came  out  of  heaver,.  Thou  art  My  beloved 
Son  ;  in  Thee  I  am  well  pleased. — Luke  j  :  2/,  22, 


«>5 


VII 
THE  PARTING  OF  THE  WAYS 

The  second  crisis  in  the  mission  of  the  Christ  was 
reached  when,  emerging  from  the  long  silence  and  seclusion 
of  Nazareth,  He  faced  the  brief  period  of  speech  and 
service,  culminating  in  His  Cross.  That  crisis  is  marked 
by  His  baptism  in  the  river  of  Jordan.  Concerning  the 
thirty  years,  practically  no  details  are  given.  A  few  brief 
statements  constitute  the  record  of  this  period.  These 
statements  reveal  the  principles  of  His  life,  and  a  bare 
statement  of  facts,  quite  sufficient  for  an  understanding  of 
all  that  is  of  value.  They  were  years  of  seclusion  and 
privacy. 

The  Gospel  narratives  give  a  much  fuller  account  of  the 
three  years  of  public  ministry. 

Between  these  periods,  the  baptism  in  Jordan  stands,  at  - 
once  dividing  and  uniting  them.  An  understanding  of 
the  meaning  of  that  ceremony,  in  the  case  of  Jesus,  will  be 
gained  by  a  contemplation  of  the  thirty  years  and  of  the 
three.  The  order  of  the  present  study  then  is  that  of  con- 
sidering, first,  the  thirty  years  of  private  life ;  secondly,  the 
three  years  of  public  ministry ;  and  lastly,  the  ceremony 
coming  between  the  two  periods. 

I.  With  regard  to  the  thirty  years,  it  will  be  well  first 
to  gather  the  statements  of  Scripture  concerning  them, 
thus  coming  into  possession  of  the  facts,  and  then  to  consider 
the  characteristics  of  those  years,  as  therein  revealed. 

107 


lo8  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

The  facts  chronicled  concern  the  infancy,  the  childhood, 
the  youth,  and  the  manhood  of  Jesus. 

Concerning  the  infancy,  the  following  facts  are  recorded.  / 

"  And  when  eight  days  were  fulfilled  for  circumcizing 
Him,  His  name  was  called  JESUS,  which  was  so  called  by 
the  angel  before  He  was  conceived  in  the  womb."  ^ 

"And  when  the  days  of  their  purification  according 
to  the  law  of  Moses  were  fulfilled,  they  brought  Him  up  to 
Jerusalem,  to  present  Him  to  the  Lord."  ^ 

"Now  when  they  were  departed,  behold,  an  angel 
of  the  Lord  appeareth  to  Joseph  in  a  dream,  saying,  Arise 
and  take  the  young  child  and  His  mother,  and  flee 
into  Egypt,  and  be  thou  there  until  I  tell  thee  :  for  Herod 
will  seek  the  young  child  to  destroy  Him.  And  he  arose 
and  took  the  young  child  and  His  mother  by  night,  and  de- 
parted into  Egypt ;  and  was  there  until  the  death  of 
Herod  :  that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  the 
Lord  through  the  prophet,  saying.  Out  of  Egypt  did  I  call 
My  Son."  3 

"  But  when  Herod  was  dead,  behold,  an  angel  of  the 
Lord  appeareth  in  a  dream  to  Joseph  in  Egypt,  saying. 
Arise,  and  take  the  young  child  and  His  mother,  and 
go  into  the  land  of  Israel :  for  they  are  dead  that  sought 
the  young  child's  life.  And  he  arose  and  took  the  young  j 
child  and  His  mother,  and  came  into  the  land  of  Israel. 
But  when  he  heard  that  Archelaus  was  reigning  over 
Judaea  in  the  room  of  his  father  Herod,  he  was  afraid  to  go 
thither;  and  being  warned  of  God  in  a  dream,  he  with- 
drew into  the  parts  of  Galilee,  and  came  and  dwelt  in  a 
city  called  Nazareth  ;  that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was 
spoken  through  the  prophets,  that  He  should  be  called  a 
Nazarene."  * 

•  Luke  2:21.     *  Luke  2 :  22.     »  Matt.  2  :  13-15.     ''  Matt.  2 :  19-23. 


The  Parting  of  the  Ways  109 

In  exact  fulfillment  of  the  requirements  of  the  Hebrew 
law  Jesus  was  circufficized  at  the  age  of  eight  days. 
He  was  thus  brought  into  the  outward  and  visible  manifes- 
tation of  His  relationship  to  the  covenant  of  God  with 
Israel, 

The    second    fact    is    that    of   His   prQggiilation    in   the*^ 
temple,  and  dedication  as  the  first-born  child  of  His  mother, 
to  the  purpose  and  service  of  God. 

The  third  fact  chronicles  the  flightintn  Egypt,  and  the 
fourth  the  return Jrom  thence  to  His  own  land  and  people. 

Thus  in  connection  with  the  infancy  there  is  a  record 
of  suggestive  facts,  the  identification  of  Jesus  with  the 
covenant  people  of  God,  by  the  symbol  of  separation  and 
purity,  His  dedication  to  special  and  specific  work  by  His 
presentation  in  the  temple,  the  carrying  into  Egypt,  as  part 
of  a  Divine  programme  of  protection  for  One  set  apart  to 
Himself,  and  the  return  to  Nazareth  for  the  entry  upon 
that  life  of  obscurity,  in  which  the  human  is  to  make  its 
progress  from  innocence  to  holiness,  in  the  place  of  such 
ordinary  testing  as  comes  to  man,  and  which  is  necessary 
for  His  development.  t-v%^ 

Concerning  the  childhood  of  Jesus,  all  the  recorded  facts 
are  in  the  Gospel  of  Luke,  and  are  as  follows : 

"  And  the  child  grew,  and  waxed  strong,  filled  with  wis- 
dom :  and  the  grace  of  God  was  upon  Him."^ 

"And  His  parents  went  every  year  to  Jerusalem  at  the 
feast  of  the  passover.  And  when  He  was  twelve  years 
old,  they  went  up  after  the  custom  of  the  feast;  and  when 
they  had  fulfilled  the  days,  as  they  were  returning,  the  boy 
Jesus  tarried  behind  in  Jerusalem ;  and  His  parents  knew 
it  not ;  but  supposing  Him  to  be  in  the  company,  they  went 
a  day's  journey ;  and  they  sought  for  Him  among  their 
>  Luke  2 :  40. 


1  lo  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

kinsfolk  and  acquaintance :  and  when  they  found  Him  not, 
they  returned  to  Jerusalem,  seeking  for  Him.  And  it  came 
to  pass,  after  three  days  they  found  Him  in  the  temple,  sit- 
ting in  the  midst  of  the  teachers,  both  hearing  them,  and 
asking  them  questions  :  and  all  that  heard  Him  were  amazed 
at  His  understanding  and  His  answers.  And  when  they 
saw  Him,  they  were  astonished ;  and  His  mother  said  unto 
Him,  Son,  why  hast  Thou  thus  dealt  with  us  ?  behold.  Thy 
father  and  I  sought  Thee  sorrowing.  And  He  said  unto 
them.  How  is  it  that  ye  sought  Me  ?  knew  ye  not  that  I 
must  be  in  My  Father's  house  ?  And  they  understood  not 
the  saying  which  He  spake  unto  them.  And  He  went 
down  with  them,  and  came  to  Nazareth  j  and  He  was  sub- 
ject unto  them :  and  His  mother  kept  all  these  sayings  in 
her  heart."  ^ 

The  whole  story  of  the  childhood  of  Jesus  from  infancy 
to  His  religious  coming  of  age,  is  contained  in  one  verse. 
The  main  statement  of  the  verse  is,  "  the  child  grew." 
Then  follows  an  explanation  of  the  statement,  in  what  may 
be  spoken  of  as  an  analysis  of  the  lines  of  His  growth. 
The  whole  fact  of  His  human  nature,  physical,  mental,  and 
spiritual  is  recognized ;  the  physical  development  In  the 
words.  He  "  waxed  strong "  ;  the  mental  development  in 
the  words,  *'  becoming  full  of  wisdom  "  (see  margin) ;  the 
spiritual  development  in  the  words,  "  the  grace  of  God  was 
upon  Him."  Thus  the  development  of  Jesus  was  not  one- 
sided. Under  the  careful  training  of  His  mother,  the  ad- 
vancement was  a  perfect  harmony  of  progress  In  the  whole 
fact  of  His  life. 

The  other  fact  of  His  childhood  recorded.  Is  that  of  His 
religious  coming  of  age.  It  is  altogether  to  miss  the  im- 
portance of  this  story  to  think  of  it  as  accidental.  The 
^Luke  2:41-51. 


The  Parting  of  the  Ways-  ill 

purpose  of  the  coming  to  Jerusalem  on  the  part  of  Mary, 
was  undoubtedly  primarily  that  of  fulfilling  the  require- 
ments of  the  law,  the  bringing  of  Jesus  to  His  confirma- 
tion. At  this  point  the  boy  was  supposed  to  enter  upon 
that  period  of  life  when  He  should  have  immediate  deal- 
ings with  the  law,  receiving  it  no  longer  through  the  in- 
struction of  His  parents ;  but  having  been  brought  by  them 
into  a  knowledge  of  its  requirements,  He  would  now  take 
upon  Himself  the  responsibility.  The  rite  which  is  still 
in  existence,  consists  in  the  preparation  by  the  candidate 
of  certain  passages  of  the  law,  which  are  to  be  recited,  and 
his  presentation  to  the  rulers  and  doctors,  that  in  conver- 
sation with  him,  they  may  ask  him  questions,  testing  his 
knowledge,  and  he  may  submit  to  them  questions  arising 
out  of  his  training.  It  was  to  this  ceremony  of  confirma- 
tion that  Jesus  was  brought  at  the  age  of  twelve. 

The  picture  of  Christ  here  is  very  full  of  beauty, 
although  too  often  the  natural  fact  is  obscured,  by  false 
ideas  concerning  the  attitude  of  Jesus  towards  the  teachers. 
A  very  popular  conception  of  His  action  here  is  that  of  a 
boy  delighting  to  ask  questions  that  will  show  His  own 
wisdom,  and  puzzle  the  doctors.  This  would  seem  to  be 
utterly  contrary  to  the  facts.  Jesus,  a  pure,  beautiful  boy, 
physically  strong,  mentally  alert,  spiritually  full  of  grace, 
moving  into  new  and  larger  experiences  of  His  life, answered 
the  questions  of  the  doctors  with  a  lucidity  that  astonished 
them,  and  submitted  problems  to  them  which  showed  how 
remarkable  was  the  calibre  of  His  mind,  and  how  intense 
the  fact  of  His  spiritual  nature.  So  great  an  opportunity 
was  this  to  Him,  that  He  tarried  behind,  still  talking  with 
these  men. 

Supposing  Him  to  have  been  with  the  company.  His 
parents  had  started  on  the  homeward  journey,  and  missing 


1 1 2  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Him,  returned.  Here  again  violence  has  been  done  to  the 
character  of  Christ  by  the  tone  in  which  His  question  has 
been  repeated.  There  was  no  touch  of  rebuke  in  what 
He  said  to  His  mother.  It  is  far  more  probable  that  there 
was  a  tender  expression  of  surprise  that  she  from  whom 
He  had  received  His  training,  and  under  whose  direction 
His  mind  had  developed,  and  His  spiritual  nature  been 
nurtured,  should  not  know  how  "the  things  of  His  Fa- 
ther" were  to  Him  the  chief  things. 

So  far  of  course  Jesus  is  seen  in  the  development  of 
His  human  nature  along  the  ordinary  lines.  The  difficulty 
suggested  in  a  previous  chapter,  how  there  could  be  growth 
and  advancement,  or  why  training  was  necessary  if  He  was 
indeed  God,  admits  of  no  explanation  save  that  of  repeat- 
ing the  fact  that  while  He  was  very  God,  He  was  actual 
Man.  His  human  life  was  lived  wholly  within  the  realm 
of  humanity.  The  Son  of  God  in  His  Deity  refrained 
from  giving  to  the  human  fact  in  its  testing  and  develop- 
ment, any  assistance  other  than  was  originally  at  the  dis- 
posal of  unfallen  man.  It  cannot  be  over-emphasized  or 
too  often  repeated,  that  this  is  a  mystery  defying  explana- 
tion. Yet  to  deny  it  is  to  create  a  new  mystery  on  either 
of  the  sides  of  the  Personality  of  Jesus,  involving  the  rout 
of  the  reason,  in  that  there  is  discovered  a  marvellous 
effect,  of  which  the  only  possible  cause  is  denied. 

The  conclusion  of  the  story  of  the  confirmation  is  that 
He  went  down  with  His  parents,  and  was  subject  unto  them. 

Concerning  the  youth  of  Jesus,  that  is,  the  period  from 
His  confirmation  to  His  young  manhood,  there  is  one 
statement. 

"And  Jesus  advanced  in  wisdom  and  stature,  and  in 
favour  with  God  and  men."  ^ 

1  Luke  2  :  53. 


The   Parting  of  the  Ways  113 

Here  again  there  is  no  detail,  but  the  bare  declaration  of 
His  advancement,  and  that  advancement  is  revealed  as 
being  balanced,  and  including  the  whole  of  His  nature, 
"  in  wisdom,  in  stature,  in  favour  with  God  and  men." 
The  application  of  this  statement,  very  often  lost  sight  of, 
is  that  He  grew  in  favour  not  only  with  God,  but  with 
men.  It  is  not  a  sign  of  being  in  the  grace  of  God  when 
one  is  out  of  favour  with  men.  It  was  not  the  Personality 
and  character  of  Jesus  that  alienated  the  crowds  from 
Him,  but  the  teaching  which  rebuked  their  sin,  and  called 
them  to  repentance.  It  is  very  beautiful  to  read  that  in 
those  long  years  at  Nazareth  Jesus  was  a  favourite.  No 
details  are  given,  and  yet  it  is  quite  possible  to  sit  down  in 
front  of  the  statement,  and  imagine  various  facts  included 
within  it.  One  could  almost  picture  the  children  going  to 
Him,  taking  perhaps  their  toys  for  Him  to  mend;  and  the 
young  men,  visiting  Him  to  talk  out  some  of  the  problems 
that  were  vexing  their  hearts.  And  the  old  people,  bent 
with  sorrow,  and  loving  to  hear  the  tones  of  some  strong 
and  yet  tender  voice,  sitting  while  He  talked  to  them. 
Let  this  never  be  forgotten  "  He  grew  in  favour  with  God 
and  men."  Jesus  was  a  favourite  in  His  own  village  until 
the  days  came  when,  in  fulfillment  of  His  Father's  will.  He 
had  to  speak  such  words  as  alienated  them  from  friendship, 
and  made  the  very  men  of  Nazareth  attempt  His  murder, 
long  before  it  was  accomplished  by  the  priests  of  the  natin    , 

There  yet  remains  one  fact  chronicled  concerning  the 
years,  that  namely,  of  the  occupation  of  His  Manhood. 

"  Is  not  this  the  carpenter,  the  son  of  Mary,  and  brother 
of  James,  and  Joses,  and  Judas,  and  Simon  ?  and  are  not 
His  sisters  here  with  us  ?  And  they  were  offended  in 
Him."i 

1  Mark  6 :  3. 


114  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

The  question  was  asked  in  the  days  when  the  enmity  of 
the  men  of  Nazareth  was  stirred  against  Him,  because  of 
His  superior  wisdom,  and  authoritative  teaching.  And  yet 
it  lights  up  facts  of  those  past  years.  He  was  the  village 
carpenter.  The  Greek  word  t^atwv,  here  translated  car- 
penter, etymologically  means  a  producer,  but  specifically, 
and  in  its  use  in  that  country,  it  indicated  a  craftsman  in 
wood.  The  declaration  reveals  Him  to  us  as  One  Who 
learned  a  trade,  becoming  Master  of  the  tools  of  His  craft. 
All  this  is  to  be  dealt  with  more  fully  in  the  next  chapter. 

These  facts,  brief  as  is  the  chronicle  of  them,  reveal  the 
characteristics  of  the  life  of  Jesus.  Through  the  process 
of  training.  He  lived  in  dependence  upon  the  guidance  of 
other  human  wills.  He  trod  the  path  of  a  daily  duty. 
Toil  was  not  to  Him  merely  the  taking  up  of  work  for  the 
sake  of  amusement.  It  was  His  response  to  stern  ne- 
cessity. He  laboured  for  the  bread  which  was  to  sustain 
physical  life.  Through  all  the  years.  His  life  was  con- 
ditioned within  human  limitations.  These  limitations  were 
of  course,  such  as  were  part  of  an  original  Divine  plan. 
There  was  a  difference  throughout  between  the  experience 
of  the  Man  Jesus,  and  the  experience  of  fallen  men. 
Their  intelligence  is  darkened.  His  shone  clearly,  and  yet 
in  ever  increasing  capacity.  Their  emotion  is  prostituted. 
His  was  ever  set  upon  highest  things,  and  responsive  to 
'he  most  perfect.  Their  will  is  degraded,  because  under 
the  dominion  of  a  false  governing  principle.  His  was  ex- 
ercised within  the  true  realm  of  submission  to  the  highest 
of  all.  The  thirty  years  were  the  years  of  the  long 
silence,  in  which  the  Son  of  God  is  seen  stripped  and 
emptied  of  all  royalty,  save  that  of  a  victorious  manhood. 

n.     Turning  to  the  three  years,  there  may  again  be  con- 


The  Parting  of  the  Ways  115 

sidered  the  facts  and  the  characteristics.  Here  everything 
is  different.  Silence  has  given  way  to  speech,  privacy  to 
publicity ;  submission  to  human  authority  has  been  changed 
into  authoritative  teaching  and  deeds,  in  the  midst  of 
human  affairs.  His  induction  to  public  ministry  is  re- 
corded by  Luke.  Returning  to  the  synagogue,  with  which 
He  was  so  familiar,  and  taking  up  the  book  of  the  prophet. 
He  read  Himself  into  His  sacred  office.  From  the  prophecy 
of  Isaiah  He  read  the  marvellous  description  of  the  mis- 
sion of  the  Servant  of  God,  and  then  in  sublime  and  quiet 
majesty  announced  that  "  to-day  hath  this  Scripture  been 
fulfilled  in  your  ears."  ^  There  was  no  one  to  introduce 
Him,  for  no  one  appreciated  the  meaning  of  His  mission. 
Passing  from  the  life  of  privacy  to  the  days  of  publicity. 
He  definitely  and  positively  claimed  that  He  was  the  One, 
anointed  of  God,  for  the  fulfillment  of  the  dreams,  and  the 
realization  of  the  hopes,  of  the  ancient  people. 

The  description  of  the  following  years  is  all  crowded 
into  the  brief  descriptive  statement,  with  which  Luke 
opens  his  second  treatise.  "  Jesus  began  both  to  do  and 
to  teach."  ^  For  the  purposes  then  of  gathering  the 
general  impression  of  the  facts  of  the  three  years,  they 
may  be  considered  under  that  twofold  heading,  of  His  do- 
ing and  His  teaching. 

There  is  no  necessity  here  to  attempt  to  chronicle  the 
deeds.  It  will  be  sufficient  to  state  concisely  their 
character  again  in  the  words  of  Luke.  "Jesus  of 
Nazareth  .  .  .  went  about  doing  good,  and  healing 
all  that  were  oppressed  of  the  devil ;  for  God  was  with 
Him."^  That  covers  the  whole  fact  concerning  the  deeds 
of  Jesus  in  the  three  years  of  public  ministry.  Doing 
good  means  infinitely  more  than  being  good,  or  doing  good 
>  Luke  4 :  i6-2i.  2  Acts  i :  i.  3  Acts  10 :  38. 


1 16  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

things  that  are  right.  The  phrase  indicates  active  benefi- 
cence. He  was,  in  the  richest  and  fullest  sense  of  the 
word,  a  Benefactor.  He  lived  a  life  in  which  there  was 
the  constant  activity  of  deeds  of  goodness  and  kindness  to-  l 
wards  other  people.  The  goodness  referred  to  is  positive 
and  relative,  assuredly  the  goodness  of  character,  but  also 
that  manifested  in  conduct,  not  merely  the  rightness  of 
inward  attitude,  but  the  beneficence  of  outward  act.  His 
vocation  during  the  hidden  years  had  been  that  of  a  carpen- 
ter. When  He  laid  that  calling  aside,  He  entered  upon  the 
vocation  of  doing  good,  serving  others,  scattering  blessing. 
All  life  now  was  an  opportunity  for  benefiting  some  one. 
His  journeyings,  His  ordinary  deeds,  the  miracles  of  His 
power,  are  all  contained  within  the  phrase  "  doing  good." 
He  was  pouring  out  of  His  own  rich  treasury  upon  other 
people,  scattering  gifts,  bestowing  benefits.  He  went  about 
doing  good. 

Then  as  to  the  teaching.  This  consisted  in  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  principles  of  human  life,  and  was  a 
revelation  of  the  convictions  and  conditions  lying  behind  true 
conduct.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  summarize  the  teach- 
ing of  Jesus,  and  yet  the  attempt  must  be  made,  though 
the  result  will  of  necessity  be  imperfect. 

As  in  the  Gospels  four  facts  are  revealed  concerning 
the  Personality  of  Christ,  so  also  these  Gospels  reveal  four 
phases  of  His  teaching  ;  and  the  whole  system  of  the 
teaching  of  Jesus  can  only  be  understood,  as  these  phases 
are  all  present  to  the  mind,  and  their  harmony  and  balance 
are  discovered. 

The  teaching  of  Matthew  has  to  do  with  the  government 
of  God.  It  is  teaching  concerning  the  Kingdom.  In  it 
lies  that  most  matchless  document,  the  Manifesto  of  the 
King.     Afterwards  there  occurs  His  commissioning  of  His 


The  Parting  of  the  Ways  117 

first  messengers,  with  yet  fuller  revelation  of  the  true 
meaning  of  the  Kingdom.  Then  in  perfect  harmony  of 
deed  with  word,  illustrations  and  explanations  of  the 
benefits  and  values  of  the  Kingdom  are  given.  Then  in- 
cidentally scattered  through  the  Gospel  there  are  illumina- 
tive illustrations,  and  ever  broadening  teaching,  concerning 
the  powers  and  perfections  of  the  kingly  authority. 
The  people  who  have  listened,  have  become  antagonized, 
and  as  in  the  beginning  of  the  teaching,  there  were  the 
Beatitudes,  so  towards  its  closing,  so  far  as  the  crowd  is 
concerned,  the  woes  are  pronounced,  the  stern  and  awful 
denunciations  of  such  as  reject  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  three  years,  the  programme  con- 
cerning the  final  movements  of  the  Divine  economy,  in 
the  casting  out  of  evil,  and  the  establishment  of  the  King- 
dom is  announced.  Along  all  the  pathway  incidental  teach- 
ing, great  parables,  and  revealing  deeds,  unite  in  making 
clear  the  great  facts  concerning  the  Kingdom  of  God,  yet 
to  be  set  up  on  the  earth,  and  spoken  of  almost  invariably, 
therefore,  through  Matthew,  as  the  Kingdom  of  heaven. 

In  the  Gospel  of  Mark,  the  teaching  is  of  a  different 
character.  There  is  very  little  of  it.  He  is  revealed  as  to 
His  Person,  as  the  Servant,  always  girded,  always  busy, 
stripped  of  royalty,  and  consecrated  to  duty.  Incidental 
accounts  which  had  to  do  largely  with  that  aspect  of  truth, 
fall  from  His  lips.  A  special  section  is  devoted  to  the 
charge  He  delivers  to  His  servants,  concerning  their  work, 
and  in  which  He  speaks  of  the  final  things. 

In  Luke  again  the  character  of  the  teaching  is  different, 
harmonizing  as  it  does  with  the  Person  of  Jesus  as  therein 
presented.  In  this  Gospel  there  is  no  consecutive  body  of 
teaching.  The  Son  of  Man,  the  universal  Saviour,  speaks 
as  occasion  demands,  of  the  great  subjects  that  are  ever  on 


1 18  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

His  heart.  First  the  Gospel  contains  in  condensed  form 
some  of  the  mighty  sayings  contained  within  the  Manifesto 
of  the  King,  as  recorded  by  Matthew.  Then  there  are 
general  instructions,  and  solemn  warnings  uttered  to  His 
apostles,  as  He  equips  them  for  their  work.  That  however 
which  is  peculiar  to  Luke  is  His  wonderful  teaching  con- 
cerning publicans  and  sinners,  their  lost  condition,  and  the 
redemption  He  has  come  to  accomplish  for  them.  In 
Luke  there  is  the  parable  concerning  the  lost  sheep,  the 
lost  silver,  and  the  lost  son.  It  is  a  parable  of  the  lost. 
It  is  a  parable  of  the  lost  sought.  It  is  a  parable  of  the  lost 
found.  And  that  parable  of  Jesus  may  be  said  to  reveal 
His  teaching  concerning  humanity  in  the  light  of  His  mis- 
sion more  perfectly  than  it  is  revealed  in  any  other  of  His 
recorded  words.  In  this  Gospel  moreover,  is  contained 
the  denunciation  of  the  Pharisees,  the  parables  of  service,  of 
the  talents,  and  yet  again,  words  concerning  the  final  things. 
Coming  to  the  Gospel  of  John,  in  some  senses  the 
greatest  of  all,  because  presenting  Jesus  as  to  His  Deity, 
there  is  the  most  wonderful  teaching  of  all.  From  first  to 
last  the  teaching  of  Jesus  in  John  may  be  spoken  of  as  the 
speech  of  heaven  to  earth.  There  are  the  wonderful  con- 
versations with  Nicodemus,  and  the  woman  at  the  well; 
the  remarkable  discourses,  delivered  in  the  hearing  of  the 
crowds,  concerning  His  unity  with  the  Father;  His  dis- 
course on  the  sustenance  of  the  life  of  the  spirit,  as  being 
of  infinitely  greater  importance  than  the  feeding  of  the 
physical ;  a-  declaration  of  the  meaning  of  His  mission,  as 
being  that  of  providing  life  for  those  who  need  it,  by  the 
liberation  of  His  own,  through  the  mystery  of  death. 
Finally,  the  great  Paschal  discourses,  in  which  He  prom- 
ises to  His  Church  the  coming  of  the  Spirit,  and  declares 
the  meaning  and  the  method  of  that  great  advent. 


The  Parting  of  the  Ways  1 19 

It  is  in  John  that  there  is  the  repetition  so  constantly  of 
the  Divine  title,  "  I  am,"  linked  to  simple  symbols  of 
things  human,  and  in  that  very  fact  is  a  key  to  the  whole 
teaching  of  Jesus,  as  contained  in  the  Gospel  of  John.  It 
is  the  speech  of  heaven  to  earth,  of  God  to  men.  It  is 
but  to  pass  through  the  Gospel  reading  His  "  I  am's,"  and 
their  setting,  to  discover  this  key.  "  I  am  the  bread."  ^ 
"  I  am  the  Light."  ^  "  I  am."  ^  "  I  am  the  door."  "  "  I 
am  the  good  Shepherd."  ^  "  I  am  the  resurrection."  ^  "  I 
am  the  way,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life."  ^  "  I  am  the 
true  vine."  *  Here  is  a  growing  revelation.  Here  is  a 
declaration  of  the  whole  meaning  of  His  gracious  mission. 
The  human  symbols  are  simple.  The  Divine  title  ever 
thrills  with  the  infinite  music  unfathomable.  Yet  in  their 
combination  is  heard  the  voice  from  heaven,  the  Logos, 
the  Word  of  God. 

How  different  these  three  years  from  the  thirty.  The 
characteristics  of  the  thirty,  and  those  of  the  three,  make  a 
striking  contrast.  In  the  thirty,  depending  on  human  will. 
In  the  three,  uttering  authoritative  speech,  and  performing 
deeds  of  power.  In  the  thirty  years,  the  commonplace 
duty  a  daily  call.  In  the  three,  manifesting  Himself  as  the 
Lord  of  duty,  demonstrating  the  dignity  of  the  Son  of  Man 
by  the  miracles  of  His  power,  and  the  glory  of  the  Son  of 
God  in  the  matchless  magnificence  of  His  Person,  and  the 
infinite  wisdom  of  His  teaching.  In  the  thirty  years,  a  life 
lived  strictly  within  human  limitations,  a  life  in  which  there 
was  constant  relation  to  the  Divine,  but  the  relation  of  de- 
pendence, submission,  fellowship.  In  the  three  years  while 
this  continued,  yet  the  life  was  evidently  broadening  out  into 
a  spacious  and  conspicuous  cooperation  with  the  Divine, 

1  John  6 :  35.        ^  John  8  :  la.        3  John  8  ;  58.        *  John  10  :  7. 
»  John  10:  II.     6johnii:25.      'John  14:6.         8Johnl5:l. 


120  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

until  the  supreme  consciousness  left  upon  the  mind  is  that 
of  the  movements  of  God  through  the  deeds  and  words  of 
man.  The  thirty  years  were  those  of  the  long  silence  in 
which  the  Son  of  God  was  seen  stripped  and  emptied  of  all 
royalty,  save  that  of  His  perfect  Manhood.  The  three 
years  are  the  years  of  the  brief  speech,  in  which  the  Son  of 
Man  is  seen  clothed  in  authority,  filled  with  power,  speak- 
ing in  the  tone  and  accent  of  the  Son  of  God. 

III.  Between  these  periods  there  came  the  solemn  and 
significant  ceremony  of  the  baptism.  As  Jesus  left  that  in 
His  life  which  was  preparatory,  and  entered  upon  the 
actual  work  of  the  ministry.  He  devoted  Himself  to  the  ul- 
timate issue  of  His  work,  that  namely,  of  an  identification 
with  men  even  to  death.  His  being  baptized  was  an  act 
by  which  He  consented  to  take  His  place  among  sinners. 
John's  baptism  was  that  of  repentance.  There  was  no 
room  for  repentance  in  Jesus,  and  yet  because  of  His  de- 
votion to  their  redemption.  He  took  His  place  with  them. 
This  will  be  referred  to  again  in  subsequent  considerations. 
It  is  named  here  as  helping  to  explain  the  value  of  the  su- 
pernatural manifestations  accompanying  the  baptism.  As 
in  the  act  of  baptism  He  yielded  Himself,  a  sacrifice  and 
an  offering ;  the  opened  heavens,  the  descending  dove,  the 
living  voice,  each  having  its  own  significance,  unite  in  the 
attestation  of  the  perfection  of  the  One  so  yielding  Him- 
self, to  the  mightiest  phase  in  the  purpose  of  God,  that  of 
redemption  by  the  way  of  sacrifice.  The  significance  of 
this  threefold  fact  may  be  considered  briefly. 

The  opened  heavens  suggest  the  perfections  of  the  thirty 
years,  and  declare  in  sacred  sign  and  symbol  that  no  act  of 
His  has  excluded  Him  from  the  fellowship  of  the  perfect. 
Heaven  which  must  forever  exclude  whatsoever  is  imper- 


The  Parting  of  the  Ways  121 

feet,  could  have  enfolded  Him  without  the  violation  of  any 
principle  of  the  Eternal  Holiness. 

The  descending  Spirit  in  the  form  of  a  dove  was  a  recog- 
nition of  the  character,  the  Spirit,  the  disposition,  of  this 
Man,  which  lay  behind  the  outward  expression  in  conduct. 
Never  anywhere  else,  is  it  recorded  that  the  Spirit  de- 
scended in  the  form  of  a  dove.  It  rested  upon  Christ  as 
the  symbol  of  purity  and  of  meekness.  And  yet  it  was 
also  His  anointing  for  the  work  of  the  three  years.  Seeing 
that  the  Spirit  of  anointing,  which  was  preparation  for  the 
future,  came  in  the  form  of  a  dove,  which  sealed  the  past ; 
the  fact  was  signified  that  the  ministry  in  public  would  be 
exercised  in  the  strength  of,  and  carried  forward  in  the 
Spirit  of,  the  purity  and  the  meekness  which  had  character- 
ized the  past. 

Superadded  to  these  signs  there  was  the  sound  of  the 
living  voice.  First  in  identification  of  this  Person  as  the 
One  Who  was  referred  to  in  the  prophetic  writings,  and  in 
the  words  of  the  Psalmist, 

"  I  will  tell  of  the  decree  : 
Jehovah  said  unto  Me,  Thou  art  My  Son ; 
This  day  have  I  begotten  Thee     .     .     . 
Kiss  the  Son,  lest  He  be  angry,  and  ye  perish  in  the  way."  • 

The  great  word  coming  out  of  the  old  economy  is  *'  the 
Son."  Now  at  the  baptism  God  says,  "  Thou  art  My  be- 
loved Son."^ 

Thus  the  description  has  reference  to  His  office,  and 
appointment  and  anointing  for  service.  The  second  part 
of  the  Divine  pronouncement  declares  that  God  is  well 
pleased  in  Him.  This  sets  the  seal  of  the  Divine  appro- 
bation upon  the  thirty  years,  and  declares  therefore  the 
»  Psalm  2  :  7,  12.  s  Luke  3 :  22. 


122  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

perfect  fitness  of  the  approved  One  for  the  carrying  out  of 
the  work  of  the  three. 

Thus  the  thirty  years  of  privacy  merge  into  the  three  years 
of  publicity,  by  the  way  of  solemn  and  significant  ceremony. 

By  this  study  the  baptism  is  placed  in  its  relation  to 
these  two  periods  in  the  ministry  of  Jesus.  The  next 
study  will  deal  more  fully  with  the  perfections  of  the 
thirty,  and  the  following  one  will  indicate  more  fully  the 
true  meaning  and  value  of  the  three. 


VIII 
LIGHT  ON  THE  HIDDEN  YEARS  AT  NAZARETH 

The  baptism  of  Jesus  separated  between  His  private  and 
public  life.  At  that  baptism  the  opened  heavens,  the  de- 
scending Spirit,  and  the  voice  of  the  Father  alike  bore  tes- 
timony to  the  perfection  of  the  Son. 

The  Divine  voice  had  special  significance  as  a  declara- 
tion concerning  the  character  of  Christ  as  He  emerged  from 
the  seclusion  of  the  hidden  years.  Thrice  during  the  period 
of  public  ministry  did  this  Divine  voice  break  the  silence 
of  the  heavens,  announcing  the  Father's  approval  of  the 
Son  of  His  love.  On  each  occasion  the  silence  v^^as  so 
broken  for  the  bearing  of  testimony  to  the  perfection  of 
Jesus. 

The  first  occasion  was  the  one  now  under  consideration, 
when  the  voice  declared,  "This  is  My  beloved  Son,  in 
Whom  I  am  well  pleased."  ^ 

The  second  was  when  upon  the  mount  of  transfigur- 
ation, the  same  voice  was  heard  saying,  "  This  is  My  be- 
loved Son,  in  Whom  I  am  well  pleased  ;  hear  ye  Him."^ 

The  third  was  when  Jesus,  drawing  near  to  His  Cross, 
the  shadow  and  sorrow  thereof  falling  over  His  life,  prayed, 
"  Father,  glorify  Thy  name,"  and  the  answer  came,  "  I 
have  both  glorified  it,  and  will  glorify  it  again."  ^ 

In  each  case  the  breaking  of  the  silence  of  the  heavens 
was  for  the  announcement  of  God's  approbation  of  Christ, 
as  in  some  fresh  crisis  of  life  He  set  His  face  towards  the 

'  Matt.  3 :  17.  '  Matt,  17:5.  3  John  12 :  28. 

123 


124  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

death,  which  was  to  culminate  the  work  of  redemption,  ac- 
cording to  the  purposes  of  God.  He  went  into  the  waters 
of  Jordan,  and  was  numbered  with  the  transgressors  in  the 
baptism  of  repentance,  taking  His  place  with  them  in  that 
pynibol  of  death,  as  He  would  finally  associate  Himself 
with  them  in  actual  death.  So  far  as  the  Person  and  char- 
acter of  Christ  were  concerned.  He  had  no  need  of  the 
baptism  of  John.  The  prophet  was  perfectly  right  when 
he  said,  "  I  have  need  to  be  baptized  of  Thee,  and  comest 
Thou  to  me  ?  "^  By  His  action  He  signified  His  consent 
to  identification  with  sinners,  even  to  death.  Here  then, 
at  once  becomes  evident  the  value  of  the  Divine  statement. 
It  was  a  declaration  of  the  perfection  of  Jesus,  and  conse- 
quently of  the  value  of  that  sacrifice  which  He  would  ulti- 
mately offer. 

This  indeed  was  the  signification  in  each  of  the  three 
cases  quoted,  for  on  the  mount  of  transfiguration.  He  spoke 
with  the  heavenly  visitors  of  His  coming  exodus,  thus  in 
the  light  of  that  wondrous  glory  facing  His  death  for  men. 
And  on  the  third  occasion  it  was  when  He,  troubled  in 
Spirit,  at  the  prospect  of  death,  yet  deliberately  declared  that 
for  death  He  had  come  unto  that  hour,  and  prayed  only  for 
the  glorification  of  the  Divine  name.  In  throe  crises  He 
faced  and  consented  to  death,  and  on  each  occasion  heaven 
sealed  the  sacrifice  as  being  perfect,  and  therefore  of  in- 
finite value. 

This  statement  of  the  perfection  of  Jesus  made  at  His 
baptism  is  a  window  through  which  light  falls  upon  His 
Person  and  character  in  the  years  that  had  been  spent  at 
Nazareth. 

In  the  account  of  the  creation  in  Genesis,  it  is  declared 
that  man,  created  in  the  image  of  God  was  appointed 
'  Matt.  3  :  14. 


Light  on  the  Hidden  Years  at  Nazareth     125 

master  of  all  created  things,  the  fish  of  the  sea,  the  fowl  of 
the  air,  and  the  beasts  of  the  field.  He  was,  moreover, 
placed  in  the  garden  of  Eden  to  dress  it  and  to  keep  it, 
that  fact  indicating  that  all  the  wonderful  possibilities  lying 
within  the  new  creation  were  to  be  realized  by  the  atten- 
tion and  work  of  man.  The  psalmist,  overwhelmed  by 
the  majesty  of  the  heavens,  asks  in  astonishment, 
"  What  is  man,  that  Thou  art  mindful  of  him  ?  " 

and  then  answers  his  question  in  words  that  recall  the  Di- 
vine intention  as  revealed  in  Genesis  : 

"  For  Thou  hast  made  him  but  little  lower  than  God, 
And  crownest  him  with  glory  and  honour. 
Thou  makest  him  to  have  dominion  over  the  works  of  Thy 

hands ; 
Thou  hast  put  all  things  under  his  feet : 
All  sheep  and  oxen. 
Yea,  and  the  beasts  of  the  field. 
The  birds  of  the  heavens,  and  the  fish  of  the  sea, 
Whatsoever  passeth  through  the  paths  of  the  seas." ' 

Man,  in  the  first  Divine  intention,  is  master  of  creation. 
He  is  born  to  have  dominion.  This  psalm  is  quoted  by 
the  writer  of  the  letter  to  the  Hebrews  : 

But  one  hath  somewhere  testified,  saying. 

What  is  man,  that  Thou  art  mindful  of  him  ? 
Or  the  son  of  man,  that  Thou  visitest  him  ? 
Thou  madest  him  a  little  lower  than  the  angels; 
Thou  crownedst  him  with  glory  and  honour, 
And  didst  set  him  over  the  works  of  Thy  hands : 
Thou  didst  put  all  things  in  subjection  under  his  feet. 

For  in   that   he   subjected   all  things  unto  him,  he  left 
nothing  that  is  not  subject  to  him.^     That   is  a  declara- 
tion  of  the  original  purpose  of  God.      The  writer  then 
proceeds,  "  But  now  we  see  not  yet  all  things  subjected 
>Psa.  8:  4-8-  8Heb.  2:  6-9. 


126  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

to  him.  But  we  behold  .  .  .  Jesus."  Without  deal- 
ing with  the  full  purpose  or  intention  of  the  writer's 
argument,  it  is  evident  that  he  intends  to  declare,  that 
while  man  as  he  is  to-day  has  failed  to  realize  the  Di- 
vine intention,  this  Man  was  an  exception  to  the  general 
failure,  in  that  He  perfectly  realized  it.  To  Him  all  things 
were  in  subjection.  He  was  Master  of  the  fish  of  the 
sea,  and  knew  where  to  find  them,  when  the  disciples  had 
been  baffled  in  their  all-night  fishing.  He  understood  the 
habits  of  the  birds  of  the  heavens,  and  drew  some  of  His 
sweetest  lessons  from  them.  The  very  beasts  of  the  field 
recognized  His  Lordship.  Of  this  there  is  a  glimpse  in 
the  account  of  the  temptation  as  chronicled  by  Mark, 
"  He  was  with  the  wild  beasts ;  "  ^  the  preposition  used  indi- 
cating close  contact,  and  therefore  also  suggesting  that  He 
was  unharmed  by  them.  He  was  indeed  God's  perfect  Man, 
having  dominion  over  the  things  of  His  Father's  creation. 

To  facilitate  the  meditation  on  the  perfections  of  Jesus 
as  Man,  fall  back  upon  the  simplest  analysis  of  human 
personality,  that  of  spirit  and  body,  dealing  with  the  mind 
as  the  consciousness  of  this  compound  personality.  In- 
ferentially  the  New  Testament  has  much  to  say  concern- 
ing the  perfection  of  Jesus  in  spirit  and  body  during  those 
years  of  seclusion  in  Nazareth. 

I.  We  commence  with  spirit,  for  that  is  the  essential 
fact  in  man.  For  an  understanding  of  the  perfection  of 
His  Spirit  again  let  the  analysis  of  intelligence,  emotion,  and 
will  be  accepted.  In  all  of  these,  and  in  their  combination, 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  realized  the  Divine  thought,  and  there- 
fore was  absolutely  perfect. 

In    Him   intelligence    was    unclouded.     In    the  Divine 

1  Mark  I  :   I3. 


Light  on  the  Hidden  Years  at  Nazareth     127 

economy  there  are  three  ways  in  which  men  may  know 
God, — through  creation,  through  revelation,  and  through 
direct  communication. 

All  these  avenues  were  open  to  Jesus,  and  through  them 
He  saw  all  that  was  to  be  seen.  To  Him  creation  was  an 
open  book,  revelation  was  radiant,  and  communication  with 
God  was  immediate  and  uninterrupted.  These  things  can 
be  said  of  none  other.  Creation  is  not  an  open  book  to 
man.  God  is  allowing  him  by  the  slow  and  tedious  proc- 
esses of  the  centuries  to  learn  to  read  its  secrets.  To 
Jesus  all  these  secrets  were  apparent. 

The  revelation  of  the  Scriptures,  while  perfect  in  them- 
selves, are  not  perfectly  understood  because  of  the  clouding 
of  man's  intelligence,  and  it  is  out  of  his  limitation  that 
all  the  misinterpretation  and  misunderstanding  of  the  cen- 
turies have  risen.  To  Jesus  all  the  words  of  revelation 
rang  with  the  meanings  of  God,  and  He  knew  Him,  and 
understood  His  message  in  the  holy  writings. 

The  communication  of  men  with  God,  even  of  the 
saints,  is  intermittent  and  partial,  interfered  with  often  by 
moods  and  frames.  His  was  perpetual,  the  Divine  voice 
sounding  in  the  deepest  consciousness  of  His  soul,  and  He, 
answering  with  the  naturalness  of  a  child,  in  the  immediate 
presence  of  the  Father. 

In  this  connection  hear  the  testimony  of  the  men  of 
Nazareth.  To  this  hamlet  on  the  hills  He  had  been  taken 
as  an  infant  on  the  return  from  Egypt,  and  there  for  the 
next  twenty-eight  years  the  greater  part  of  His  life  was 
spent.  At  the  age  of  twelve  He  had  been  taken  to  Jeru- 
salem, and  in  all  probability  had  visited  the  Holy  City  each 
subsequent  year ;  but  most  likely  all  the  remaining  months 
of  the  years  were  passed  in  Nazareth.  The  people  of 
Nazareth  would  know  Him  perfectly.     It  was  a  little  town 


128  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

standing  out  of  the  run  of  the  ordinary  traffic  of  the  coun- 
try. So  far  is  it  removed  from  the  ordinary  course  of 
events  that  it  seems  as  though  no  invading  army  has  ever 
touched  it ;  and  there  is  great  probability  that  the  syna- 
gogue standing  to-day  is  the  very  one  in  which  the  Lord 
read  the  words  of  the  law.  It  was  a  small  and  unimpor- 
tant place,  where  in  all  likelihood  every  one  knew  every  one 
else,  and  would  be  perfectly  familiar  with  the  boy  who  had 
grown  up  in  the  shop  of  the  village  carpenter,  and  had 
finally  Himself  succeeded  His  reputed  father  in  the  work 
of  that  shop. 

At  about  thirty  years  of  age.  He  had  turned  His  back 
upon  the  village.  After  an  absence  of  a  few  months  He 
returned,  and  as  His  custom  was,  visited  the  synagogue  on 
the  Sabbath  day.  But  now  what  He  did  was  unusual  and 
unexpected — He  opened  His  mouth  and  began  to  speak  to 
them,  and  as  they  listened  to  Him  they  were  astonished ; 
and  presently  some  one  asked  the  question,  "  Whence  hath 
this  Man  these  things  ?  and.  What  is  the  wisdom  that  is 
given  unto  this  Man  ? "  ^ 

To  gather  the  full  force  of  the  question  it  is  necessary 
to  understand  what  they  meant  by  wisdom.  According  to 
Trench  the  word  aoc/na^  signifies  clearness  of  understand- 
ing, and  is  a  word  used  only  "  as  expressing  the  highest 
and  noblest,"  As  these  men  of  Nazareth  listened  to  Him, 
what  surprised  them  was  that  they  heard  in  His  teaching, 
such  wisdom  as  was  proof  at  once  of  great  intellect,  and 
great  goodness. 

There  is  a  yet  more  remarkable  statement  recorded  about 

Him    in    the    Gospel    of  John.     Coming  from   Galilee  to 

Jerusalem  He  taught  in  the  temple.     Speaking  here  was  a 

very  different    thing    from    speaking  in  the    synagogue  at 

»  Mark  6 :  2. 


Light  on  the  Hidden  Years  at  Nazareth     129 

Nazareth,  Here  were  gathered  and  centred  the  light  and 
scholarship  of  the  day.  Here  a  false  accent,  or  a  misquo- 
tation of  ignorance,  would  immediately  have  been  detected. 
When  Savonarola  came  to  Florence  for  the  first  time,  his 
magnificent  eloquence  of  conviction  was  counted  nothing, 
because  of  the  objectionable  Lombardy  accent.  When 
Jesus  passed  from  the  villages  to  the  metropolis,  and 
opened  His  mouth  to  teach,  surrounded  by  the  most  critical 
ears  of  His  day,  "  the  Jews  therefore  marvelled,  saying. 
How  knoweth  this  Man  letters,  having  never  learned  ?  "  ^ 
Now  this  word  ypdiJ-iia-a.^  translated  "  letters,"  is  a  most  sig- 
nificant one.  It  only  occurs  in  one  other  place  in  the 
New  Testament.  "  And  as  he  thus  made  his  defence, 
Festus  saith  with  a  loud  voice,  Paul,  thou  art  mad ;  thy 
much  learning  is  turning  thee  mad."^  Festus  meant  by 
the  word  "  learning  "  exactly  what  these  men  meant  by 
"  letters."  Festus  detected  in  the  speech  of  Paul,  all  that  he 
had  gained  from  his  careful  training.  There  was  the  accent 
of  the  school  of  Gamaliel,  and  it  was  this  tone  of  erudition 
that  the  Jews  were  astonished  at  in  Jesus  when  they  spoke 
of  His  knowing  letters.  "  When  they  said,  '  How  knoweth 
this  Man  letters,  having  never  learned,'  they  meant  that  He 
had  never  studied  in  the  schools,  and  yet  possessed  all  that 
the  schools  could  give  Him."^  The  remarkable  thing  was 
that  Jesus  showed  Himself  familiar  with  the  literary 
methods  of  His  time,  which  were  confined  to  the  disciples 
of  the  popular  teachers.  He  did  not  speak  amongst  them 
as  an  earnest  and  yet  ignorant  Man  ;  but  by  His  use  of 
language,  and  His  evident  familiarity  with  the  philosophies 
of  the  schools,  He  impressed  the  Jerusalem  crowds,  and  in 
astonishment  they  exclaimed,  "  How  knoweth  this  Man 
letters,  having  never  learned  ?  " 

'John  7  :  15.  2  Acts  26  :  24.  ^  Bishop  Westcott. 


130  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Men  have  to  learn,  to  study,  to  go  through  processes  of 
training,  to  obtain  what  He  possessed  without  these  proc- 
esses. To  return  to  the  Gospel  of  John,  notice  that  He 
answered  their  question  :  "  My  teaching  is  not  Mine,  but 
His  that  sent  Me.  If  any  man  willeth  to  do  His  will,  he 
shall  know  of  the  teaching,  whether  it  is  of  God,  or 
whether  I  speak  from  Myself."  ^  While  that  passage  is 
generally  quoted  as  declaring  a  philosophy  of  Christian  dis- 
cipleship,  and  while  it  has  that  application,  it  should  never 
be  forgotten  that  the  first  intention  of  the  words  is  that  of 
an  answer  to  a  question  of  the  Jews,  and  is  our  Lord's  ac- 
count of  His  knowledge  of  the  things  that  astonished  His 
hearers.  The  Man  Who  perfectly  does  the  will  of  God 
is  the  Man  Who  understands  all  mysteries ;  and  is  familiar 
with  facts  which  ordinary  men  only  understand  by  long 
effort  and  study.  The  secrets  that  lie  hidden  in  Nature, 
fallen  man  with  clouded  intelligence  must  search  after;  but 
God's  unfallen  Man  will  read  them  upon  the  open  page  of 
Nature,  discovering  immediately  the  deepest  philosophies 
of  life.  Never  let  Christ  be  robbed  of  the  royalty  of  intel- 
lectual kingship.  He  was  in  no  sense  ignorant  or  illiterate. 
He  never  learned,  for  there  was  no  necessity  for  learning. 
Learning  is  a  process  made  necessary  by  the  fall  of  man, 
and  the  sin  of  the  race.  God's  perfect  and  unfallen  Man 
needed  no  such  process ;  being  sinless,  He  knew  letters 
without  having  learned.  In  Him  was  most  perfectly  ful- 
filled the  wonderful  words  "  The  secret  of  Jehovah  is  with 
them  that  fear  Him."^ 

This  intelligence  operated  not  only  in  the  realm  of  Na- 
ture, but  in  keen  and  marvellous  accuracy  of  understanding 
of  the  inner  secrets  of  other  human  lives.  As  John  de- 
clares, "  He  needed  not  that  any  one  should  bear  witness 
•John  7  :  16,  17.  5  Psa.  25  :  14  (margin).' 


Light  on  the  Hidden  Years  at  Nazareth     131 

concerning  man ;  for  He  Himself  knew  what  was  in 
man."  ^  Telepathy  and  thought-reading  are  great  mysteries 
to  the  mind  of  men  to-day,  mysteries  towards  the  solution 
of  which  a  few  are  bending  all  their  mental  power,  while 
the  rest  watch,  and  smilingly  imagine  that  they  are  either 
playing  tricks,  or  are  themselves  being  tricked.  And  yet 
this  whole  realm  of  the  communication  of  the  mind  of 
man  with  the  mind  of  man,  is  part  of  the  estate  lost  through 
sin.  In  it  Jesus  was  at  home.  He  knew  the  thought  of 
sin,  and  the  lustful  desire,  and  the  hidden  malice,  and  the 
trembling  aspiration  after  God;  and  to  watch  carefully  His 
dealings  with  the  varied  men  and  women,  who  crossed  His 
pathway,  is  to  see  the  method  of  an  intelligence  the  calibre 
of  which  cannot  be  understood,  for  He  read  the  inner 
thought  of  the  heart  of  each  as  an  open  book. 

Let  workers  for  God  in  dealing  with  individual  souls 
ever  bear  this  in  mind.  He  knows  the  secret  of  the  heart 
of  the  one  to  whom  the  worker  is  talking.  There  are 
times  when  in  dealing  with  men  of  intellectual  mold  there 
has  come  the  temptation  of  imagining  that  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth was  not  able  perfectly  to  satisfy  the  capacity  of  their 
great  minds.  Shame  on  all  such  unworthy  doubt.  Be  it 
ever  remembered  that  Jesus,  the  Son  of  Mary,  was  Prince 
of  scholars.  Master  of  learning.  King  of  wisdom.  His  ene- 
mies being  His  witnesses.  He  had  the  ypdfjinaTa^the  wisdom 
of  letters,  which  they  so  coveted,  though  He  never  passed 
through  human  process  to  reach  the  human  result. 

He  was  moreover  perfect  in  His  emotional  nature.  His 
affection  was  undivided.  Unclouded  intelligence  issued  in 
perfect  consciousness  of  God.  Seeing  God  perfectly  in 
the  ways  and  works  of  God,  He  loved  God  perfectly. 
Herein  is  the  deepest  meaning  of  His  own  words,"  Blessed 
ijohn  2:  25, 


132  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

are  the  pure  in  heart  :  for  they  shall  see  God."  '  Himself 
pure  in  heart,  He  saw  God  perfectly,  and  this  was  to 
realize  the  Divine  unity.  Let  this  sequence  be  carefully 
noted.  First,  unclouded  intelligence  producing  perfect 
consciousness  of  God  ;  secondly,  perfect  consciousness  of 
God  revealing  the  unity  of  God  and  of  all  things  in  God  j 
thirdly,  this  discovery  capturing  the  whole  heart  and  neces-- 
sitating  perfect  love. 

This  unity  of  God  was  the  central  fact  for  the  understand- 
ing of  which  the  Hebrew  nation  had  been  created. 
"  Hear,  O  Israel :  Jehovah  our  God  is  one  Jehovah."  * 
To  see  and  know  God  as  Jesus  saw  and  knew  Him  is  to 
discover  this  unity,  and  therein  to  discover  the  unity  of  all 
the  purposes  of  Deity, — that 

" .     .     .     through  the  ages  one  increasing  purpose  runs, 
And  the  thoughts  of  men  are  widened  with  the  process  of  the  suns."  3 

This  vision  of  the  unity  of  God  captures  the  heart  of 
man.  The  consciousness  of  the  One  Who  creates  and 
maintains  unity,  is  the  perfection  of  love  in  the  soul  of 
man.  Thus  the  passage  already  quoted  in  Deuteronomy 
concerning  the  unity  of  Jehovah  is  immediately  followed  by 
the  command,  "  And  thou  shalt  love  Jehovah  thy  God  with 
all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  might." 
Jesus  knowing  with  unclouded  intelligence  was  perfectly 
conscious  of  the  character  of  God,  and  the  unity  of  His 
purpose,  and  loved  Him  with  all  His  heart.  The  Man  of 
unclouded  intelligence  was  the  Man  of  undivided  affection. 

Then  follows  the  fact  of  the  unopposing  will.  The  will 
is  the  citadel  against  which  all  the  forces  of  temptation  are 
directed,  and  within  this  citadel  Jesus  repelled  these  tempta- 

'Matt.  5:  8.  ^Deut.  6:4.  3  Tennyson. 


Light  on  the  Hidden  Years  at  Nazareth     133 

tions  in  the  light  of  unclouded  intelligence,  and  the  power 
of  undivided  affection.  He  saw  God  perfectly,  and  there- 
fore He  loved  God  perfectly,  and  therefore  He  obeyed 
God  perfectly,  and  was  able  to  say,  "  I  do  always  the  things 
that  are  pleasing  to  Him."  ^ 

In  this  analysis  of  the  spiritual  perfection  of  Jesus,  there 
must  ever  be  borne  in  mind  the  interaction  of  these  three 
facts  within  the  spiritual  nature.  Love,  through  light,  ap- 
pealed to  will.  Will,  responding,  strengthened  love  and  in- 
creased light.  That  is  the  perpetual  process  in  human  life. 
Yielding  to  God,  light  falls  upon  the  pathway,  and  creates 
love.  Love  suggests  obedience.  The  will,  impulsed  by 
love,  yields  to  light.  The  experience  that  follows  obedience 
increases  love  and  light,  and  thus  there  is  perpetual  prog- 
ress, growth,  development  in  the  grace  that  makes  men 
grow  in  favour  with  God  and  man. 

n.  Turn  now  to  the  physical  perfection  of  Jesus. 
When  will  some  inspired  artist  give  us  a  true  picture  of 
this  glorious  Man  ?  He  is  almost  always  depicted  as  frail 
in  physical  form,  and  lacking  in  bodily  beauty.  Perhaps  the 
German  artist,  Hoffmann,  has  come  nearest  to  the  true 
ideal.  It  may  be  argued  that  the  prophet  Isaiah  declared, 
"  There  is  no  beauty  that  we  should  desire  Him ; "  ^  but 
surely  the  prophet  did  not  mean  that  He  would  be  devoid 
of  beauty,  but  rather  that  men  would  be  blind  and  would 
not  recognize  the  true  type  of  Divine  beauty.  I  strenu- 
ously hold  that  He  was  perfect  in  physical  form  and  pro- 
portion. The  body  is  the  outward  and  visible  sign  of  the 
inward  and  invisible  spirit,  and  the  perfect  spirit  of  Jesus 
would  form  a  perfect  physical  tabernacle  in  which  He 
passed  the  probationary  life. 

>  John  8 :  29.  "  Isa.  53 :  2. 


134  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

In  the  letter  to  the  Romans  the  apostle  urges  the  saints 
"  to  present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable 
to  God,  which  is  your  spiritual  worship."  ^  That  is  the 
marginal  reading,  and  catches  the  real  thought  of  the  writer. 
The  spirit  worships  through  the  presentation  of  the  body. 
The  spirit  expresses  itself  through  the  body.  It  will  read- 
ily be  conceded  that  the  most  plain  and  commonplace  faces 
become  transfused  with  light,  when  the  spirit  is  in  com- 
munion with  God ;  and  to  grant  the  spiritual  perfection  of 
Jesus  is  of  necessity  to  admit  bodily  perfection  likewise. 
Marred  with  the  furrows  of  sorrow  and  of  pain  His  sacred 
face  most  surely  was,  yet  in  form  and  feature  and  fashion 
it  was  the  fairest  face  of  man  the  world  has  ever  seen. 
Perhaps  bent,  and  even  at  the  last  faltering  with  weariness, 
that  sacred  tabernacle  of  His  spirit,  and  yet  the  boasted 
perfections  of  Greek  gods  were  but  human  abortions  by  the 
side  of  the  perfectly  balanced  physique  of  Jesus.  In  Him 
spirit  was  dominant,  and  all  bodily  powers  were  perfectly 
under  control,  within  the  sphere  appointed  in  the  Divine 
economy. 

It  follows  that  every  piece  of  work  that  Jesus  did  in 
physical  strength  under  the  control  of  spiritual  intelligence, 
was  perfect  work,  and  this  because  He  perfectly  understood 
His  work,  was  perfectly  able  to  do  it,  and  rendered  it  in  the 
perfect  love  of  His  heart  to  God.  How  delightful  it  is 
to  meditate  upon  Him  as  He  bent  over  His  bench  and 
made  yokes  and  ploughs  for  the  cultivation  of  the  fields  He 
so  dearly  loved,  which  stretched  around  the  hamlet  where 
He  lived.  It  is  worthy  of  remembrance  that  He  used 
both  plough  and  yoke  as  illustrations  in  His  preaching. 
Think  for  a  moment  of  the  wonderful  skill  with  which  He 
would  carry  out  His  work.     His  knowledge  of  nature  was 

iRom.  12:  I. 


Light  on  the  Hidden  Years  at  Nazareth     135 

such  that  He  knew  exactly  the  best  wood  to  use  for  any 
given  piece  of  work;  and  in  the  tree  lying  before  Him, 
He  read  all  the  story  of  its  growth,  and  knew  the  precision 
of  its  method,  and  so  understood  just  how  to  cut  it  so  as 
not  to  spoil  it  in  the  process.  He  knew,  moreover,  how 
to  join  it,  so  that  in  the  joint  the  strength  of  each  part 
should  minister  to  the  new  strength  of  union.  He  was  a 
perfect  Workman,  doing  perfect  work. 

Perhaps  apart  from  the  Master,  one  of  the  most  wonder- 
ful illustrations  the  world  has  ever  had  of  perfection  of 
spirit  producing  perfection  of  work  was  that  of  Stradivarius, 
the  great,  and  may  it  not  be  said,  the  only,  maker  of  the 
violin.  Certain  it  is  that  his  instruments  have  never  been 
improved  upon.  When  he  was  at  work  on  them,  he 
would  pass  into  the  woods,  and  placing  his  hands  upon  the 
trees  would  know  by  the  very  touch,  which  wood  was  best 
for  each  part  of  the  musical  mechanism.  He  discovered 
the  tones  of  music  in  the  fibre  of  the  wood,  with  the  result 
that  he  made  a  perfect  instrument.  In  him  there  was  the 
development  of  spirit  on  the  side  of  music. 

Now  lift  the  thought,  and  remember  that  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  was  not  developed  upon  one  side  only,  but  was 
perfect  in  His  understanding  of  all  the  methods  of  God  in 
creation.  See  then  how  His  work  would  be  most  perfect. 
Every  piece  of  carpentry  passing  from  His  shop,  if  men 
had  but  been  able  to  appreciate  it,  thrilled  with  the  energy 
of  perfect  manhood. 

In  Him  there  was  an  utter  absence  of  disease.  He  had 
strength  enough  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  Divinely 
ordained  work  of  the  day.  No  more  than  that,  for  He  was 
Man.  Tired  was  He  when  the  day  was  over,  because 
His  strength  had  been  used  for  the  day  for  which  it  was 
given.     Tiredness  is  God's  call  to  sleep  which  is  Nature's 


136  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

sweet  restorer.  O  perfect  Man,  perfect  in  spirit,  having 
learning,  loving  always,  obeying  ever ;  perfect  in  body, 
with  face  of  rarest  beauty,  and  form  of  finest  mold,  express- 
ing in  common  daily  tasks  the  thoughts  of  God  and  the 
perfections  of  eternity  ! 

Then  finally,  and  in  a  word,  let  it  be  remembered  that 
He  passed  from  those  thirty  years  of  privacy,  perfect  in 
spite  of  temptation.  His  had  not  been  a  life  free  from 
temptation.  The  old  question  asked  in  Eden  was  surely 
asked  of  Jesus,  "  Has  God  imposed  limitations  ?  "  and  the 
suggestions,  listening  to  which  the  first  of  the  race  was 
ruined,  were  made  to  Him  also,  "  This  limitation  of  the 
carpenter's  bench  is  cruel  bondage."  And  yet  there  He 
remained  while  days  multiplied  into  weeks,  and  weeks 
grew  into  months,  and  months  passed  on,  until  years  had 
multiplied  themselves  to  thirty.  And  even  when  perhaps 
the  subtlest  temptation  of  all  came,  the  temptation  to  hurry 
on  His  own  greatest  work,  the  temptation  which  coming 
to  Moses  and  mastering  him  postponed  deliverance  for  so 
long.  He  still  remained,  there  also  learning  obedience  by 
the  things  which  He  suffered,  and  growing  in  favour  with 
God  and  men  ;  until,  responsive  to  the  inward  call.  He 
left  the  seclusion  and  the  privacy,  and  standing  on  the 
threshold  of  public  work,  with  the  waters  of  a  death  bap- 
tism, which  He  had  shared  in  the  grace  of  His  heart  with 
man,  still  clinging  about  Him,  the  silent  heavens  broke  into 
the  language  of  a  great  music,  as  the  Almighty  Father 
declared,  *'  This  is  My  beloved  Son  in  Whom  I  am  well 
pleased." 


IX 

THE  VISION  OF  JOHN 

One  of  the  supreme  glories  of  the  Hebrew  nation  was 
its  long  line  of  prophets.  The  function  of  the  prophet 
may  be  gathered  from  the  varied  names  by  which  these 
men  were  called.  One  or  two  instances  will  suffice.  The 
prophet  was  called  "  a  seer,"  ^  that  is,  simply,  one  who  sees. 
He  was  also  called  "  man  of  God,"  ^  that  is,  a  man  wholly 
devoted  to  God,  and  therefore  speaking  with  authority  the 
messages  of  God.  And  yet  again,  he  was  called  "  man  of 
the  Spirit,"^  that  is,  one  through  whom  the  Spirit  declared 
the  will  and  purpose  of  Jehovah.  The  prophetical  order 
commenced  with  Samuel,  and  in  the  marvellous  succession 
were  such  men  as  Elijah,  and  Elisha,  Isaiah,  and  Ezekiel. 
Splendid  as  was  this  succession,  none  among  them  was 
greater  than  the  last  of  the  long  line,  John  the  Baptist, 
who  was  also  the  immediate  forerunner  of  Jesus. 

In  common  with  all  his  predecessors  in  the  prophetic 
office,  John's  message  resulted  from  his  vision.  He  saw 
clearly,  and  therefore  spoke  with  authority.  The  message 
which  aroused  the  whole  nation  was  the  outcome  of  the 
clear  seeing  of  this  man,  wholly  devoted  to  the  will  of 
God.  Undeceived  by  the  accidental  and  external  in  the 
condition  of  his  nation,  his  vision  was  of  the  true  moral 
condition,  and  gave  birth  to  his  message.  When  his  work 
was  approaching  its  termination,  a  new  vision,  that  of  the 

1  I  Sam.  9:9.  2  I  Sam.  9:6.  »  Hosea  9  ^  7  ( A.  V.  Margin). 

137 


138  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Saviour,  was  granted  to  him,  and  his  last  and  mightiest 
utterances  were  concerning  the  Christ.  It  is  of  deep  in- 
terest and  undoubted  value  to  consider  his  view  of  Christ, 
at  this  crisis  in  his  work. 

How  important  this  vision  is,  may  be  argued  from  the 
manner  in  which  Luke  introduces  him.  "  Now  in  the 
fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius  Caesar,  Pontius 
Pilate  being  governor  of  Judaea,  and  Herod  being  tetrarch 
of  Galilee,  and  his  brother  Philip  tetrarch  of  the  region  of 
Ituraea  and  Trachonitis,  and  Lysanias  tetrarch  of  Abilene, 
in  the  high-priesthood  of  Annas  and  Caiaphas,  the  word 
of  God  came  unto  John."  *  One  Roman  emperor,  one 
Roman  governor,  three  tetrarchs,  and  two  high  priests  are 
all  made  use  of,  to  mark  the  hour  in  which  the  word  came 
to  John. 

Incidentally  this  is  an  illuminative  illustration  of  the 
Divine  perspective  in  human  history.  To  the  men  of 
the  day,  any  one  of  the  great  men  named  would  have 
counted  for  far  more  than  the  man  of  the  wilderness ;  but 
in  the  economy  of  God,  they  are  simply  used  to  mark  the 
hour  in  which  the  most  important  event  of  the  period  hap- 
pened, that  namely  of  the  coming  to  a  man  of  the  word 
of  God,  which  announced  the  advent  of  His  Son.  The 
greatness  of  John  in  the  estimate  of  heaven,  is  revealed  by 
the  fact  that  the  word  of  God  passed  emperor,  governor, 
tetrarchs,  and  high  priests,  and  came  to  him ;  and  the  men- 
tion of  these  facts  proves  how  important  was  the  message 
of  this  man,  to  whom  was  given  the  high  honour  of  utter- 
ing the  word  which  announced  the  fulfillment  of  the  aspira- 
tions of  the  past,  and  the  merging  of  one  dispensation  of 
government  into  a  new  and  a  better. 

The  subject  is  divided  into  two  parts,  first,  John's  pre- 
1  Luke  3:1,2. 


The  Vision  of  John  139 

liminary    vision    and    burden ;    and    secondly,   the   greater 
vision  that  broke  upon  him  and  closed  his  work. 

I.  The  preliminary  vision  was  a  twofold  one.  First  a 
great  consciousness  of  the  sin  of  the  people,  and  secondly 
an  overwhelming  sense  of  an  approaching  crisis.  These 
were  the  two  great  facts  that  made  the  ministry  of  John 
powerful,  his  sense  of  sin,  and  his  sense  of  the  imminence 
of  Divine  interposition.  His  vision  of  the  people  as  they 
really  were,  instead  of  as  they  thought  they  were,  and  his 
understanding  of  the  signs  of  the  times  were  so  perfect, 
that  he  knew  that  he  stood  on  the  eve  of  a  new  departure. 

His  consciousness  of  the  sin  of  the  people  is  evidenced 
first  by  the  words  addressed  to  them,  especially  by  that 
stinging  and  terrible  description,  "  Ye  offspring  of  vipers."  ^ 
Perhaps  the  best  way  to  have  any  correct  idea  of  how  these 
words  sounded  in  the  ears  of  the  listeners  is  to  imagine  that 
a  prophet  to-day  should  use  them  in  addressing  a  promiscu- 
ous congregation.  John  looked  into  the  faces  of  the  multi- 
tudes and  deliberately  called  them  "  offspring  of  vipers." 
These  multitudes  were  not  made  up  exclusively  of  one 
class  of  people.  All  Judaea  went  out  to  hear  him.  Among 
the  rest  there  is  very  little  doubt  that  Herod  at  times  was 
an  attentive  listener.  Royalty  mingled  with  the  masses, 
all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  stood  together,  and  listened 
to  the  burning  words  that  fell  from  the  lips  of  the  prophet ; 
and  looking  out  over  the  sea  of  upturned  faces,  and  know- 
ing their  true  moral  condition,  he  called  them  "  offspring 
of  vipers."  Matthew  says  that  these  words  were  specially 
addressed  to  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees.  Luke  tells  us 
that  they  were  spoken  to  the  whole  of  the  multitudes,  and 
undoubtedly  both  are  correct.  Luke  gives  his  declamation 
'  Luke  3 :  7, 


140  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

against  the  nation,  while  Matthew  records  the  special  ad- 
dress of  John,  in  which  he  puts  his  finger  upon  the  heart 
of  the  sore,  showing  that  he  understood  the  process  of  the 
nation's  corruption.  Said  he  to  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees, 
"  Ye  offspring  of  vipers,  who  warned  you  to  flee  from  the 
wrath  to  come  ?  "  ^  These  men  were  the  ritualists  and  the 
rationalists  of  the  day,  the  men  under  whose  influence  re- 
ligion was  evaporating  in  mere  outward  form  and  ceremony, 
and  men  who  were  sapping  the  very  life  essence  of  religion 
by  denying  the  spiritual  realm.  The  Pharisees  were  ritual- 
ists, having  form  without  power.  The  Sadducees  were 
rationalists,  denying  power,  and  holding  even  the  form  in 
contempt.  Between  them,  they  had  undermined  the  whole 
religious  fabric,  which  still  stood,  a  vast  and  gaudy  pile, 
covering  untold  corruption,  and  liable  at  any  moment  to 
fall  in  utter  ruin. 

John  looking  at  these  men  and  at  the  people  whom  they 
had  influenced  said,  "Ye  off^spring  of  vipers."  It  was 
forceful  and  terrible  language,  indicative  of  the  prophet's 
righteous  indignation,  born  of  his  keen  understanding  of 
the  true  condition  of  affairs. 

His  sense  of  sin  is  also  proved  by  the  varied  answers  he 
gave  to  different  people  who  questioned  him.  To  the 
common  multitudes  he  cried,  "  Bring  forth  therefore  fruits 
worthy  of  repentance,  and  begin  not  to  say  within  (^our- 
selves. We  have  Abrjiham  to  our  father."^  In  these  last 
words  he  indicated  the  characteristic  sin  of  the  people,  that 
namely,  of  satisf'.acti^n  in  blood  relationship  to  Abraham, 
despite  tlic  fact  that  the  knaterial  corruption  of  their  life 
contradicted  the  first  essential  greatness  of  Abraham,  that  1 ' 
of  his  faith  in  God  and  obedience  to  the  Divine 
will. 

1  Matt.  3:7.  «  Luke  3  :  8. 


The  Vision  of  John  141 

When  the  publicans  came  to  him,  and  asked  him  what 
they  were  to  do,  he  replied,  "  Extort  no  more  than  that 
which  is  appointed  you.'"  From  this  answer  is  seen  how 
accurately  he  understood  the  dishonesty  of  these  men,  who 
under  the  aegis  of  their  influential  position  were  robbing 
the  people,  and  enriching  themselves. 

When  the  soldiers  came  to  him  and  asked.  What  are  we 
to  do,  he  replied,  "  Extort  from  no  man  by  violence,  neither 
accuse  any  one  wrongfully ;  and  be  content  with  your 
wages."  ^ 

Here  again  is  seen  how  keen  was  his  consciousness  of 
the  sin  of  the  alien  armies,  the  tyranny  of  the  conquerors. 
These  men  were  exacting  that  which  was  not  their  due, 
and  this  by  violence,  creating  false  charges  against  men,  in 
order  that  they  might  enrich  themselves  by  the  fines  im- 
posed. All  these  replies  show  how  accurate  a  knowledge 
the  prophet  had  of  the  true  condition  of  affairs,  and  that 
was  the  first  part  of  his  burden. 

This  sense  of  sin  had  given  birth  to  another,  that  of  an 
approaching  crisis.  Listen  to  his  words,  "  And  even  now 
the  axe  also  lieth  at  the  root  of  the  trees :  every  tree  there- 
fore that  bringeth  not  forth  good  fruit  is  hewn  down,  and 
cast  into  the  fire."  ^  The  axe  is  laid  at  the  root  of  the 
trees.  That  Is  a  figure  of  ccr-irnj;  and  swift  destruction, 
not  the  pruning  of  the  knife,  but  the  destructic^n  n{  th': 
axe.  It  is  not  an  occasional  branch  in  which  the  >.ign-  ol 
decay  are  manifest.  The  rrce  i->  diseased,  an<C  the  axe  is 
laid  at  its  root,  Ouf.vaidly  fair,  but  inwardly  decayed,  the 
tree  is  doomed  to  an  immediate  destruction. 

But  the  visio"^  wr.s  cle?.rcj*  than  this  alone  would  indi- 
cate. It  was  n<  •  an  undefined  crisis  that  was  approaching, 
but   the   definite   coming   of  One,  for  hear  his  language, 

1  Luke  J :  i^  *  Luke  3;  14.  3  Luke  3:  9. 


142  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

"  He  that  cometh  after  me  is  mightier  than  I,  Whose 
shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  bear :  He  shall  baptize  you  in 
the  Holy  Spirit  and  in  fire."  '  This  One  was  to  be  active, 
and  mark  well  the  characteristics  of  His  activity  as  John 
foresaw  them,  "Whose  fan  is  in  His  hand,  and  He  will 
thoroughly  cleanse  His  threshing  floor;  and  He  will  gather 
His  wheat  into  the  garner,  but  the  chaff  He  will  burn  up 
with  unquenchable  fire."  ^  Note  the  twofold  fact,  the  de- 
structive side  as  symbolized  by  the  fan  and  the  fire ;  and 
the  constructive  aspect,  as  seen  in  the  cleansing  by  fire  and 
the  gathering  into  the  garner  of  precious  things. 

John  had  a  sense  of  the  sin  of  the  people,  a  conscious- 
ness of  a  coming  crisis,  a  clear  vision  of  the  Deliverer, 
Whose  work  was  to  be  destructive  and  constructive.  With 
this  double  consciousness,  he  preached  with  overwhelming 
force  to  the  vast  multitudes  that  flocked  to  the  valley  of 
the  Jordan  to  hear  him. 

n.  It  is  probable  that  John  had  never  seen  Jesus,  or  if 
they  had  known  each  other  in  boyhood's  days,  long  years 
had  elapsed  since  their  last  meeting.  John  having  turned 
his  back  upon  the  priesthood,  had  gone  to  the  splendid  iso- 
lation of  the  wilderness  in  preparation  for  the  great  work 
that  lay  before  him  ;  while  Jesus  had  remained  in  the  midst 
of  the  commonplaces  of  every-day  life,  in  the  carpenter's 
shop  at  Nazareth.  At  last  the  moment  came  when  the 
forerunner  was  to  look  upon  the  face  of  the  King,  and  it 
was  a  wonderful  vision  that  broke  upon  this  stern  and 
burdened  soul,  when  for  the  first  time  he  looked  into  the 
face  of  Him,  Whose  advent  he  had  so  magnificently  fore- 
told. 

The  story  is  chronicled  in  detail  by  the  apostle  John, 
»Matt.  3:  II.  *  Matt.  3:  12. 


The  Vision  of  John 


H3 


and  in  eleven  verses  are  the  doings  of  three  distinct  days, 
the  vision  of  the  first  day;^  that  of  the  second,  beginning 
with  the  words,  "  On  the  morrow,"  ^  and  that  of  the  third 
commencing  "Again  on  the  morrow."^ 

On  the  first  day  there  is  the  speech  of  John  declaring 
the  presence  of  Christ  in  the  crowd,  but  in  all  probability 
he  did  not  point  Him  out  to  the  people.  Said  he,  "  In 
the  midst  of  you  standeth  One  Whom  ye  know  not."^ 
The  emphasis  is  on  the  "j^,"  for  John  certainly  knew 
Him.  Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  about  six  weeks  had 
passed  since  the  day  of  the  baptism  of  Jesus.  He  had  been 
hidden  in  the  wilderness,  passing  through  the  forty  days  of 
temptation,  and  had  now  returned,  and  was  mingling  with 
the  crowds  just  upon  the  eve  of  commencing  His  own 
public  ministry. ' 

Mark  the  prophet's  sense  of  the  dignity  of  the  One 
Who  as  yet  had  not  chosen  to  manifest  Himself  openly  to 
men.  "  He  that  cometh  after  me  is  become  before  me  : 
for  He  was  before  me  .  .  .  the  latchet  of  Whose 
shoe  I  am  not  worthy  to  unloose."  ®  That  was  the  state- 
ment of  the  first  day. 

It  would  appear  as  though  on  the  second  day  Jesus  no 
longer  merely  stood  among  the  crowd  as  a  spectator,  but 
approached  John.  As  He  approached,  John  made  his 
greatest  pronouncement,  "  Behold,  the  Lamb  of  God,  that 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  ^     First  his  vision  of 

1  John  1 :  26-28.      "^  John  i  :  29-34,      » John  i  :  35,  36.      ^  John  i  :  26. 

5  A  careful  study  of  the  context  will  prove  that  this  statement  of  John 
was  made  after  the  baptism,  for  immediately  after  the  three  days'  events 
here  recorded,  Jesus  began  the  gathering  of  His  disciples,  and  His  public 
work.  It  would  seem  therefore  as  if  this  study  of  the  vision  of  John 
should  come  after  the  chapters  on  the  temptation.  It  is  taken  here,  how- 
ever, as  the  pronouncement  which  John  made,  as  the  one  direct  outcome 
of  the  vision  of  Christ,  which  he  had  received  on  the  occasion  of  the  bap- 
tism, as  he  himself  distinctly  declared  (John  i :  33,  34). 

*  John  I  :   15,  27.  'John  i :  29. 


144  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

the  Person ;  secondly,  a  declaration  concerning  His  work. 
The  phrase  which  describes  the  Person  as  John  saw  Him, 
at  once  arrests  attention.  It  declares  the  character  of  the 
Christ,  and  suggests,  moreover,  the  character  of  His  work. 
"  The  Lamb  of  God  "  indicates  meekness,  gentleness,  for- 
bearance. May  it  not  have  been  that  John  was  surprised, 
when  first  he  looked  into  the  face  of  Him  Whose  coming 
he  had  foretold.  All  the  language  in  which  he  had  pre- 
dicted the  advent  of  the  Deliverer  suggested  strength, 
force,  authority  and  administration,  "  One  mightier  than  I, 
Whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  bear  .  .  .  Whose 
fan  is  in  His  hand,  and  He  will  thoroughly  cleanse  His 
threshing-floor;  and  He  will  gather  the  wheat,  but  shall 
burn  the  chafF."  This  Man  was  of  quiet  demeanour,  and 
restful  eyes,  and  calm  countenance,  with  no  lurking  suspi- 
cion of  vindictiveness,  nothing  of  the  lion  in  His  fair  face. 
Purity  even  to  innocence  was  the  impression  produced  by 
the  presence  of  the  King,  "  Behold,  the  Lamb  of  God." 

And  yet  there  was  more  than  this  in  the  phrase  as  it  fell 
from  the  lips  of  John,  and  that  which  was  more,  was  em- 
phasized by  this  first  impression.  "The  Lamb  of  God  " 
suggests  the  thought  of  sacrifice,  and  this  very  meekness  of 
demeanour,  and  purity  of  impression,  but  adds  weight  to  this 
conception  of  the  meaning  of  the  phrase.  Had  John,  look- 
ing into  the  face  of  Jesus  had  to  say,  "  Behold,  the  Lion  of 
the  tribe  of  Judah,"  no  thought  of  sacrifice  could  have  been 
connected  therewith,  but  the  very  submissive  beauty,  so 
evident  in  the  personality  of  Christ,  merged  the  thought  of 
the  forerunner  from  the  majesty  of  the  work  soon  to  be 
accomplished,  into  the  mercy  of  the  method. 

We  are  in  great  danger  to-day  of  losing  sight  of  that 
second  suggestion  of  the  great  phrase.  To  interpret  Scrip- 
ture  aright,  it   is   necessary  to  find  the  way  back  into  the 


The  Vision  of  John  145 

temper  and  tone,  into  the  habit  of  thought  of  the  people  to 
whom  the  words  were  addressed.  To  the  Jewish  mind 
there  was  no  other  meaning  in  this  phrase  than  that  of 
sacrifice.  The  season  at  which  these  words  were  spoken 
lent  weight  to  this  view  of  the  meaning.  The  Passover 
was  approaching,  and  along  that  very  highway  droves  of 
sheep  and  cattle  were  in  all  probability  being  driven  towards 
Jerusalem  for  sacrifice.  The  thought  of  sacrifice  was  sub- 
consciously present  amid  the  crowds,  and  the  prophet,  who 
had  seen  the  sin  of  the  people,  now  looking  into  the  face 
of  this  strange  new  King,  beholds  in  Him  God's  perfect 
Lamb,  the  One  final  Sacrifice  for  sin.  The  first  time  in 
the  Bible  where  the  word  "  Lamb  "  occurs  is  in  connection 
with  the  sacrifice  of  Isaac.  Coming  up  from  the  long  gone 
centuries  is  heard  the  plaintive  cry  of  the  lad,  about  to  be 
bound  upon  the  altar,  "  My  father  .  .  .  behold,  the 
fire  and  the  wood  :  but  where  is  the  lamb  for  a  burnt  offer- 
ing ?  "  ^  The  first  time  that  the  word  occurs  in  the  New 
Testament,  is  where  the  last  messenger  of  the  great  nation 
that  had  sprung  from  the  loins  of  Abraham  through  Isaac, 
announced  to  the  multitudes  of  the  children  of  Abraham, 
"Behold,  the  Lamb  of  God."^  This  is  no  mere  accident. 
It  is  a  part  of  the  great  proof  of  the  unity  of  the  Book. 
The  Old  Testament  asks  the  question,  "  Where  is  the 
lamb  ? "  The  New  Testament  answers,  "  Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God."  The  old  economy  was  able  to  produce 
the  fire  and  the  wood,  symbols  of  judgment,  but  nothing 
more.  The  new  produces  the  perfect  sacrifice  by  the 
offering  of  which  Isaac  and  his  seed  in  faith  might  go  free. 
No  one  will  dispute  that  the  question  asked  by  Isaac 
concerning  the  lamb,  is  a  question  having  reference  to 
sacrifice.  All  through  the  Old  Testament,  the  lamb  isdis- 
1  Gen.  22  :  7.  "'  John  i  :  29. 


146  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

tinctly  connected  with  the  thought  of  sacrifice, — the  lamb 
of  the  atonement,  the  morning  and  evening  lambs  of  sacri- 
fice. John,  knowing  the  meaning  that  gathered  around  the 
word  in  the  mind  of  the  people  he  addressed,  declared  that 
here  at  last  had  appeared  upon  the  scene  of  human  action 
the  Lamb  of  God,  that  is.  One  Who  should  fulfill  all  the 
promises  and  suggestions  concerning  sacrifice  in  the  old 
economy. 

To  dwell  for  a  moment  longer  upon  this  aspect,  let  it  be 
remembered  that  the  word  "  lamb  "  only  occurs  four  times 
in  the  New  Testament,  until  the  book  of  Revelation  is 
reached,  twice  in  the  passage  now  under  consideration, 
once  in  the  Acts,  where  Philip  reads  from  the  prophecy 
of  Isaiah, 

"  He  was  led  as  a  sheep  to  the  slaughter ; 
And  as  a  lamb  before  his  shearer  is  dumb,"  ^ 

and  once  in  the  first  epistle  of  Peter,  where  the  apostle 
speaks  of  "  the  precious  blood,  as  of  a  lamb  without  blem- 
ish and  without  spot,  even  the  blood  of  Christ."  ^  These 
are  the  only  occasions  where  the  word  "  lamb  "  is  used, 
and  they  all  refer  to  Christ.  The  last  two  most  evidently 
have  reference  to  His  sacrificial  and  atoning  work,  and 
so  also  without  any  doubt  have  the  statements  of  John. 
The  language  of  Scripture  is  not  contradictory,  but  unified 
in  its  symbolism,  in  both  these  cases,  as  it  ever  is. 

The  words  following  place  this  beyond  the  possibility  of 
contradiction,  "  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin 
of  the  world."  The  meaning  of  the  phrase  "  taketh 
away  "  is  that  of  bearing  or  carrying.  That  is  to  say,  the 
prophet  declared  that  there  stood  before  them  the  Lamb  of 
God  Who  had  become  responsible  for  the  sin  of  the  world. 
>  Acts  8 :  32.  2 1  Pet  1 :  19. 


The  Vision  of  John  147 

He  taketh  it  away,  He  carries  it,  He  bears  it.  He  has  made 
it  His  own.  He  has  become  responsible  for  it.  What  a 
radiant  vision  of  love  ineffable  was  this  that  broke  upon 
the  soul  of  John,  and  what  a  vision  for  the  world  !  The 
spotless  Lamb  of  God  laden  with  the  sin  of  the  race. 
Men  had  been  asking  for  Him  from  the  days  of  Isaac. 
Behold  Him  !  He  stands  before  the  crowds  in  quiet,  sub- 
missive splendour,  and  yet  He  is  burdened,  as  man  was 
never  burdened.  He  carries  the  sin  of  the  world.  Not 
the  sins,  but  the  principle  of  sin.  He  has  gathered  into 
His  own  perfect  personality,  and  has  made  Himself  re- 
sponsible for  all  that  sin  means  as  to  guilt  and  penalty. 
That  is  the  very  heart  of  the  atonement,  "  Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God." 

Thus  John  who  had  been  heavily  burdened  with  a  sense 
of  sin,  and  out  of  that  sense  had  spoken  words  that  had' 
scorched  the  consciences  of  the  listening  multitudes,  at  last 
found  the  burden  lifted  from  his  shoulders,  and  carried  in  a 
way  he  never  could  have  carried  it,  by  the  meek  and 
gentle  Lamb  of  God. 

He  then  proceeded  to  tell  the  crowds  that  his  knowledge 
of  Jesus  was  the  result  of  the  Divine  sign,  of  which  he 
had  received  previous  notice,  the  sign  of  the  descending 
Spirit;  ending  his  whole  declaration  with  the  words,  "I 
have  seen,  and  have  borne  witness  that  this  is  the  Son  of 
God."  ^  What  a  thrill  of  satisfaction  there  seems  to  be  in 
the  words  "I  have  seen."  The  eyes  of  men  had  wearied 
looking,  and  the  hearts  of  a  few  faithful  souls  had  almost 
sickened  with  hope  deferred  ;  but  at  last  the  prophet  had 
seen. 

And  then   notice   how  carefully  he  announces  another 
fact  concerning  this  Person,  this  Lamb  of  God.     He  is 
'  John  1 :  34. 


148  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

the  Son  of  God.  John  recognized  the  mystery  of  the  per- 
sonality of  Jesus.  He  was  the  God-man,  the  Lamb  of  God, 
the  Son  of  God.  Two  facts  in  one  personality,  and  in  the 
union  of  these  two  facts,  in  the  one  Person  lay  the  pos- 
sibility of  His  doing  the  mighty  work  of  bearing  away  the 
sin  of  the  world. 

Now  lastly,  there  is  the  account  of  the  vision  of  the 
third  day.  Jesus  is  leaving  John  and  the  crowds.  He  is 
going  to  His  work,  and  as  He  leaves,  John  points  his 
disciples  towards  Him,  and  cries,  "  Behold,  the  Lamb  of 
God  !  "  ^  These  were  in  reality  the  final  words  of  John's 
message.  They  have  in  them  the  tone  of  a  great  con- 
viction. It  is  the  crowning  climax  of  all  his  marvellous 
message.  The  herald  of  the  King,  the  forerunner  of  the 
Christ,  one  of  the  greatest  born  of  women  outside  the 
Kingdom  of  God,  had  carried  on  his  heart,  as  perhaps  no 
other  man  apart  from  Jesus,  the  burden  of  human  sin. 
This  is  proven  by  the  force  and  solemnity  of  his  preach- 
ing. But  at  last  he  has  looked  into  the  face  of  the 
Saviour,  and  when  presently  men  came  to  him,  and  told 
him  of  the  successful  preaching  of  Jesus,  and  of  His 
growing  fame,  this  great  soul  was  able  to  say,  *'  This  my 
joy  therefore  is  made  full.  He  must  increase,  but  I  must 
decrease."^  Mark  well  the  quiet  calm  dignity  of  the 
satisfied  heart,  able  to  say  with  perfect  acquiescence,  "  He 
must  increase,  but  I  must  decrease." 

» John  1 :  36.  '  John  3 :  39, 30. 


BOOK  III 

THE  TEMPTATION 


X.  Introductory- 
XL  The  First  Temptation 
XII.  The  Second  Temptation 

XIII.  The  Third  Temptation 

XIV.  Final 


"  The  subject  of  our  Lord's  temptation  is  mysterious^  and 
therefore  difficult.  Lying  in  part  within  the  domain  of  human 
consciousness  and  experience^  it  stretches  far  beyond  our  sight^ 
throwing  its  dark  projections  into  the  realm  of  spirit^  that 
realm^  *  dusk  with  horrid  shade ^  which  Reason  may  not 
traverse.,  and  which  Revelation  itself  has  not  illumined.,  save 
by  occasional  lines  of  light.,  thrown  into.,  rather  than  across  it. 
We  cannot.,  perhaps.,  hope  to  have  a  perfect  understanding  of 
it.,  for  in  a  subject  so  wide  and  deep  there  is  room  for  the  play 
of  many  hypotheses  '  but  inspiration  would  not  have  recorded 
the  event  so  minutely  had  it  not  a  direct  bearing  upon  the  tvhole 
of  the  Divine  Life.,  and  were  it  not  full  of  pregnant  lessons  for 
all  times.  To  Him  who  suffered  within  it.,  it  was  a  wilderness 
indeed j  but  to  us  '  the  wilderness  and  the  solitary  place*  have 
become  ''glad.,  and  the  desert  .  .  .  blossoms  as  the  rose.' 
Let  us.,  then.,  seek  the  wilderness  reverently  yet  hopefully.,  and  in 
doing  so  let  us  carry  in  our  minds  these  two  guiding  thoughts — 
they  will  prove  a  silken  thread  for  the  labyrinth — first.,  that 
fesus  was  tempted  as  Man  •  and  second.,  that  jfesus  was 
tempted  as  the  Son  of  Man.'' — Henry  Burton. 

"  The  Gospel  of  Luke." 


Then  was  Jesus  led  up  of  the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness  to  be 
tempted  of  the  devil.  And  when  He  had  fasted  forty  days  and 
forty  nights.  He  afterward  hungered.  And  the  tempter  came  and 
said  unto  Him,  if  Thou  art  the  Son  of  God,  command  that  these 
stones  become  bread.  But  He  answered  and  said.  It  is  written, 
Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that  pro- 
ceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God.  Then  the  devil  taketh  Him 
into  the  holy  city ;  and  he  set  Him  on  the  pinnacle  of  the  temple, 
and  saith  unto  Him,  If  Thou  art  the  Son  of  God,  cast  Thyself 
down  :   for  it  is  written. 


and. 


He  shall  give  His  angels  charge  concerning  Thee : 


On  their  hands  they  shall  bear  Thee  up, 

Lest  haply  Thou  dash  Thy  foot  against  a  stone. 


Jesus  said  unto  him.  Again  it  is  written.  Thou  shalt  not  make  trial 
of  the  Lord  thy  God.  Again,  the  devil  taketh  Him  unto  an  ex- 
ceeding high  mountain,  and  sheweth  Him  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world,  and  the  glory  of  them  ;  and  he  said  unto  Him,  All  these 
things  will  I  give  Thee,  if  Thou  wilt  fall  down  and  worship  me. 
Then  saith  Jesus  unto  him.  Get  thee  hence,  Satan  :  for  it  is 
written.  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  Him  only  shalt 
thou  serve.  Then  the  devil  leaveth  Him ;  and  behold,  angels 
came  and  ministered  unto  Him. — Matt.  4:  i-ii. 

And  straightway  the  Spirit  driveth  Him  forth  into  the  wilderness. 
And  He  was  in  the  wilderness  forty  days  tempted  of  Satan  ;  and 
He  was  with  the  wild  beasts  ;  and  the  angels  ministered  unto  Him. 
— Mark  1 :  12,  ij. 

And  Jesus,  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  returned  from  the  Jordan, 
and  was  led  in  the  Spirit  in  the  wilderness  during  forty  days,  being 
tempted  of  the  devil.  And  He  did  eat  nothing  in  those  days  : 
and  when  they  were  completed.  He  hungered.  And  the  devil 
said  unto  Him,  If  Thou  art  the  Son  of  God,  command  this  stone 
that  it  become  bread.  And  Jesus  answered  unto  him.  It  is  written, 
Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone.  And  he  led  Him  up,  and 
shewed  Him  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  in  a  moment  of  time. 
And  the  devil  said  unto  Him,  To  Thee  will  I  give  all  this 
authority,  and  the  glory  of  them  :  for  it  hath  been  delivered  unto 


me ;  and  to  whomsoever  I  will  I  give  it.  If  Thou  therefore  wilt 
worship  before  me,  it  shall  all  be  Thine.  And  Jesus  answered  and 
said  unto  him.  It  is  written.  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God, 
and  Him  only  shalt  thou  serve.  And  he  led  Him  to  Jerusalem, 
and  set  Him  on  the  pinnacle  of  the  temple,  and  said  unto  Him, 
If  Thou  art  the  Son  of  God,  cast  Thyself  down  from  hence :  for 
it  is  written. 

He  shall  give  His  angels  charge  concerning  Thee,  to  guard  Thee : 

and. 

On  their  hands  they  shall  bear  Thee  up, 

Lest  haply  Thou  dash  Thy  foot  against  a  stone. 

And  Jesus  answering  said  unto  him.  It  is  said.  Thou  shalt  not 
make  trial  of  the  Lord  thy  God. 

And  when  the  devil  had  completed  every  temptation,  he  de- 
parted from  Him  for  a  season. — Luke  4 : 1-IJ. 


152 


X 

INTRODUCTORY 

The  third  crisis  in  the  mission  of  Christ  followed  the 
second  almost  immediately.  On  the  threshold  of  the 
second  period  in  His  work^ — the  three  years  of  public 
ministry — He  met  in  conflict  the  arch-enemy  of  the  race. 
Not  that  this  was  by  any  means  the  first  encounter.  All 
the  thirty  years  had  been  years  of  conflict.  There  is  no 
room  for  doubt  that  questions  intended  to  cast  reflections 
upon  the  motives  of  God  had  been  asked  in  Nazareth, 
similar  to  those  asked  in  the  Garden  of  Eden.  The  last 
Adam  was  familiar  by  the  experience  of  the  years  with  the 
method  of  attack  which  had  issued  in  the  ruin  of  the  first 
Adam.  The  suggestion  had  certainly  been  made  to  Him 
that  the  will  of  God  was  capricious  and  unkind.  No 
day  had  passed  in  which  He  had  not  been  subject  to 
temptation.  To  think  of  the  tempting  of  Jesus  as  be- 
ginning and  being  exhausted  in  that  special  season  in  the 
wilderness  which  is  the  subject  of  present  consideration,  is 
to  misunderstand  utterly  the  years  at  Nazareth,  and  the  full 
meaning  of  the  wilderness  experience.  During  those  thirty 
years  He  had  been  unceasingly  victorious.  At  His  bap- 
tism, the  opened  heavens,  the  descending  Dove,  the  Divine 
voice  are  each  and  all  significant  of  the  perfections  of  the 
thirty  years,  that  is,  of  the  absolute  victory  Jesus  had  won 
over  all  the  attacks  of  the  enemy.  The  Master  had  met 
and  triumphed  over  all  the  temptations  incidental  to  private 
life. 

153 


154  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

He  is  now  entering  upon  the  three  years  of  public 
ministry,  and  He  meets  the  foe  of  the  race  in  the  supreme 
conflict  of  all  His  testing, — supreme,  that  is,  in  the  fact 
that  now  evil  appears  before  Him  in  all  its  tremendous 
strength  and  naked  horror  in  the  personality  of  the  devil. 
In  all  likelihood  never  had  there  been  such  an  attack  be- 
fore, and  certain  it  is  that  it  never  occurred  again.  After 
this  experience  His  attitude  towards  Satan  and  all  his 
emissaries  is  that  of  the  Victor  towards  the  vanquished. 
Never  again  is  He  seen  in  the  place  of  temptation  in  the 
same  specific  way.  Suggestions  which  as  to  their  inner 
meaning  are  identical,  are  made  to  Him  by  Satan  through 
Peter,  and  yet  once  more  in  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane, 
but  the  victory  won  in  the  wilderness  is  most  evidently  the 
source  of  strength  in  subsequent  experiences. 

The  attack  of  the  foe  is  directed  against  Him  in  view  of 
His  coming  work.  Its  subtlety  is  manifest  in  that  it  is 
directed  against  three  aspects  of  triumphant  service.  To 
serve  God  there  must  be  manhood  strong  in  the  realiza- 
tion of  Divine  ideals.  Against  this  the  first  attack  was 
made.  There  must  also  be  such  implicit  trust  in  God  as 
expresses  itself  in  contentment  with  the  Divine  arrange- 
ment, and  refusal  to  tempt  God  by  false  heroics.  The 
second  temptation  was  craftily  aimed  at  the  breaking  down 
of  this  confidence.  And  yet  again,  the  servant  of  God 
must  accept  the  methods  of  God  at  whatever  cost  to  him- 
self. The  final  temptation  was  a  suggestion  that  a  Divine 
end  should  be  reached  by  other  than  the  Divine  method. 

In  this  preliminary  study  the  subject  is  that  of  the  set- 
ting of  the  temptation,  reserving  for  future  chapters  the 
temptations  themselves.  In  thus  viewing  the  temptation 
in  its  relation  to  the  whole  mission  of  Christ,  there  are 
four  matters  to  be  considered, — The  time  of  the  tempta- 


Introductory  1 55 

tion.  The  place  of  the  temptation.  The  agent  of  the 
temptation.  The  significance  of  the  temptation.  For  the 
purpose  of  this  study,  reference  will  have  to  be  made  to 
the  three  accounts  by  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke.  John 
has  no  chronicle  of  the  temptation,  his  Gospel  being  essen- 
tially that  of  the  Deity  of  Jesus,  and  God  cannot  be 
tempted. 

I.  In  dealing  with  the  time  of  the  temptation  there  are 
three  significant  words.  Matthew  opens  the  story  with  the 
word  "  then."  ^  Mark  uses  in  this  connection  a  charac- 
teristic word  of  the  Gospel,  "straightway."'"  Luke  opens 
with  the  word  "  and."  ^  These  words  "  Then,"  "  Straight- 
way," "  And  "  show  the  connection  of  the  temptation  with 
what  had  preceded  it,  and  thus  mark  with  great  distinct- 
ness its  time.  "  Then  was  Jesus  led  up  of  the  Spirit." 
When  ?  Immediately  after  the  baptism,  with  its  Divine 
attestation  of  satisfaction.  "And  straightway  the  Spirit 
driveth  Him  forth."  *  Here  the  emphasis  is  yet  greater 
upon  the  fact  that  the  temptation  followed  immediately 
upon  the  baptism.  "  And  Jesus  .  .  .  was  led  by  the 
Spirit  in  the  wilderness  during  forty  days."  ^  The  "  and  " 
here  marks  continuity.  Thus  the  first  act  of  the  new 
phase  of  service  was  that  of  the  testing  of  the  Servant,  and 
His  perfect  victory  over  the  foe.  God  had  sealed,  as  ap- 
proved, the  first  phase  of  the  work.  The  anointing  Spirit 
had  indicated  His  preparedness  for  the  future.  His  fore- 
runner had  recognized  in  Him  the  King,  of  Whose  coming 
he  had  spoken  to  the  gathered  crowds,  on  the  banks  of  the 
river.  The  whole  circumstances  of  the  baptism  must  have 
been  full  of  satisfaction  to  the  heart  of  Christ,  and  now  in 

'  Matt.  4:1.  2  Mark  i  :  I2,  3  Luke  4  :  I. 

*Mark  i  :  12.  ^  Luke  4  :  i. 


156  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

the  conscious  strength  of  victory  already  achieved,  He 
passes  into  the  gloom  and  loneliness  of  the  wilderness, 
that  He  may  be  tested,  and  through  the  testing  prove  His 
strength, 

n.  Then  as  to  the  place  of  the  temptation^  again  notice 
the  threefold  description.  Matthevv^  says,  "  Into  the  vv^ilder- 
ness  ;  "  ^  Mark,  ''  forth  into  the  u^ilderness  ;  "  ^  Luke  says, 
"In  the  vi'ilderness."'  The  common  thought  is  that  the 
temptation  was  experienced  in  the  wilderness.  The  mean- 
ing of  this  in  relation  to  the  mission  of  Christ  deserves 
special  attention.  Jesus  now  stands  as  the  second  Man,  the 
last  Adam.  Here  let  this  Scriptural  statement  be  specially 
noted  and  remembered.  Too  often  He  is  spoken  of  as 
the  second  Adam.  Scripture  does  not  use  the  expression.  It 
speaks  of  the  "  last  Adam."  ^  The  first  Adam  was  the 
head  of  a  race.  The  last  Adam  is  the  Head  of  a  race,  and 
He  is  the  last,  because  there  will  be  no  new  departure,  no 
other  federal  headship,  and  no  other  race.  The  last 
Adam,  then,  passing  into  temptation,  went  to  the  wilder- 
ness, into  single  and  lonely  combat  with  the  enemy.  No 
foe  other  than  the  captain  of  the  hosts  of  evil  is  opposed  to 
Him  there,  and  no  friend  other  than  the  God  in  Whose 
hand  His  breath  is,  and  Whose  are  all  His  ways,  is  with 
Him.  The  wilderness  is  the  place  of  immediate  dealing 
with  evil.     All  secondary  things  are  swept  aside. 

It  is  interesting  to  contrast  the  circumstances  under 
which  the  second  Man,  the  last  Adam,  meets  temptation, 
with  those  under  which  the  first  man  and  first  Adam  met 
them.  Jesus  stood  among  circumstances  far  more  disad- 
vantageous than  did  Adam.  In  each  case  there  was  a  per- 
fect man, — in  Eden  a  man  God-made  ;  in  the  wilderness  a 
Man  God-begotten.  The  first,  however,  was  in  Eden, 
'Matt.  4:1.         2  Mark  I:  12.  3  Luke  4  :  2.         ■>  1  Cor.  15:  45. 


Introductory  1 57 

amid  circumstances  of  beauty  and  plenty,  a  place  where 
there  was  no  lack,  and  all  man's  God-made  nature  was 
satisfied.  The  second  was  in  the  wilderness,  in  surround- 
ings of  barrenness,  and  poverty,  and  hunger  for  the  bread 
that  perishes. 

And  yet  note  one  graphic  touch  of  Mark,  '■*■  He  was  with 
the  wild  beasts."^  There  are  those  who  seem  to  think 
that  the  statement  reveals  the  horror  of  the  situation,  that 
the  prowling  wild  beasts  in  the  neighbourhood  made  the 
situation  still  more  fearful.  But  the  word  "  with  "  suggests 
not  that  they  were  in  His  neighbourhood  or  He  in  theirs 
merely,  but  that  there  was  companionship  between  them. 
The  fact  is,  that  even  these  wild  beasts  recognized  Cjod's 
millennial  Man,  and  lost  their  ferocity,  as  has  been  already 
seen  in  a  previous  study.  Thus  in  the  very  place  of  con- 
flict was  a  glorious  shadowing  forth  of  the  day  when  the 
lamb  shall  lie  down  with  the  lion,  and  when  all  the  won- 
derful prophecies  that  foretell  man's  comniunion  with,  and 
dominion  over,  the  lower  forms  of  creation  shall  be  realized. 
He  made  even  the  wilderness  to  blossom  with  millennial 
glory. 

HI.  Next  as  to  the  agent  of  the  temptation.  Matthew 
says,  "  To  be  tempted  of  the  devil  "  ;  ^  Mark,  "  Tempted 
of  Satan  "  j  ^  Luke,  "  Tempted  of  the  devil."  ^  The  em- 
phasis here  is  upon  the  fact  that  in  the  wilderness  expe- 
rience Jesus  came  face  to  face  with  the  prince  of  the  power 
of  the  air,  with  the  god  of  this  world,  with  Lucifer,  son  of 
the  morning,  fallen  from  his  high  estate  of  the  first  rank  of 
heaven,  and  now  leader  of  the  hosts  of  darkness. 

There  have  been  many  attempts  to  account  for  the 
temptation  in  other  ways.  It  has  been  suggested  that  some 
man  or  company  of  men  visited  Him  in  the  wilderness,  and 

'  Mark  1:13.  *  Matt.  4:1.         ^  Mark  1:13.  *  Luke  4 :  2. 


158  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

voiced  the  suggestions  of  evil  ;  some  even  holding  that  the 
tempter  was  a  member  of  His  own  family,  who  followed 
Him  into  the  wilderness,  and,  with  motives  not  unmixed 
with  concern  for  Him,  yet  became  the  voice  of  evil.  As 
lall  this  is  pure  imagination,  and  has  not  the  slightest  war- 
rant in  Scripture,  it  must  be  dismissed  at  once  as  false. 

The  more  serious  error  is  that  the  temptation  arose  from 
the  natural  operations  of  the  mind  of  Christ.  This  is  as 
unwarranted  as  is  the  other.  As  evil  was  presented  to  the 
first  man  from  without,  so  also  was  it  to  the  second.  But 
no  time  need  be  taken  with  these  futile  attempts  to  discount 
the  actual  accuracy  of  the  scripture  narrative.  One  of  the 
chief  values  of  this  account  of  the  temptation  lies  in  the 
fact  that  Jesus  here  dragged  Satan  into  the  light,  and  re- 
vealed to  all  His  followers  the  fact  of  his  personality,  and 
the  method  of  his  operations. 

To  deny  the  personality  of  Satan  is  to  deny  Scripture. 
It  is  moreover  to  reflect  upon  humanity  in  a  way  that  is 
unwarranted  by  the  whole  scheme  of  revelation.  If  there 
be  no  personal  devil,  then  all  the  evil  things  that  blot  the 
page  of  human  history  are  the  outcome  of  human  nature. 
This  is  not  possible  of  belief.  Evil  is  not  a  natural 
product  of  God's  humanity.  It  is  not  a  process  of  evolu- 
tion. To  hold  that,  in  the  last  analysis,  is  to  make  God 
the  Author  of  sin.  It  is  evident  therefore  that  to  deny  the 
personality  of  Satan  is  not  to  escape  the  problem  of  evil. 
If  the  Bible  account  of  the  fall  of  man  is  not  correct,  there 
yet  remains  the  unsolved  problem.  While  freely  granting 
the  mystery,  man  refuses  to  believe  that  the  genesis  of  evil 
lies  within  the  fact  of  human  nature,  accepting  the  teaching 
of  Scripture  that  the  problem  lies  further  back,  evil  having 
originated  prior  to  the  creation  of  man.  Revelation  takes 
man   no  further  back  than  the  fall  of  the  angels,  which  is 


Introductory  159 

declared  and  not  explained.  From  that  fall  came  the  first 
movement  of  evil  in  human  life,  and  the  ruin  of  a  race. 
The  Head  of  the  new  race  goes  back  to  the  point  of  the 
origin  of  evil  in  man,  and  confronts  the  personality,  who  is 
the  head  and  front  of  the  offending. 

IV.  With  regard  to  the  significance  of  the  temptation^  again 
refer  to  the  three  narratives.  Matthew  writes,  "  Then  was 
Jesus  led  up  of  the  Spirit;"^  Mark  expresses  it,  "The 
Spirit  driveth  Him,"^  while  Luke  declares  He  "  was  led 
by  the  Spirit."^  The  one  fact  announced  in  these  varied 
ways  is  of  supreme  importance  to  keep  in  mind,  if  the  true 
significance  of  this  temptation  is  to  be  understood.  A 
Divine  plan  was  being  wrought  out.  It  did  not — to  use  a 
common  expression — "  happen  "  that  Jesus  met  Satan  and 
was  tried.  Neither  is  it  true  to  say  that  the  devil  arranged 
the  temptation.  Temptation  here  is  in  the  Divine  plan 
and  purpose.  Jesus  went  into  the  wilderness  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  find  the  devil.  My  own 
conviction  is  that  if  the  devil  could  have  escaped  that  day, 
he  would  have  done  so.  It  is  a  very  popular  fallacy  that 
the  enemy  drove  Christ  into  a  corner  and  tempted  Him. 
But  the  whole  Divine  story  reveals  that  the  facts  were 
quite  otherwise.  God's  perfect  Man,  led  by  the  Spirit,  or 
as  Mark  in  his  own  characteristic  and  forceful  way  ex- 
presses it,  driven  by  the  Spirit,  passes  down  into  the  wilder- 
ness, and  compels  the  adversary  to  stand  out  clear  from  all 
secondary  causes,  and  to  enter  into  direct  combat.  This  is 
not  the  devil's  method.  He  ever  puts  something  between 
himself  and  the  man  he  would  tempt.  He  hides  his  own 
personality  wherever  possible.  To  our  first  parents  he 
did  not  suggest  that  they  should  serve  him,  but  that  they 
should  please  themselves.  Jesus  dragged  him  from  behind 
'Matt.  4;  I,  2  Mark  I ;  12,  3  Luke  4:  i. 


i6o  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

everything,  and  put  him  in  front,  that  for  once,  not  through 
the  subtlety  of  a  second  cause,  but  directly,  he  might  do 
his  worst  against  a  pure  soul. 

Nothing  can  be  more  clear  than  the  simple  and  full 
statement.  Matthew  does  not  assert  that  being  led  of  the 
Spirit  into  the  wilderness  He  was  tempted  of  the  devil; 
but  that  He  was  "  led  up  into  the  wilderness  to  be  tempted 
of  the  devil."  Mark  adds  some  further  light,  by  declaring. 
He  was  "  in  the  wilderness  forty  days,  tempted  of  Satan  ;  "^ 
while  Luke  declares  the  same  thing  with  even  greater  de- 
tail, "  He  was  led  by  the  Spirit  in  the  wilderness  during 
forty  days,  being  tempted  of  the  devil."  ^ 

To  gather  up  these  different  side  lights,  the  case  may 
thus  be  stated.  Jesus  was  led  by  the  Spirit  into  the  wilder- 
ness to  be  tempted  of  the  devil.  He  was  tempted  of  the 
devil  during  forty  days,  during  the  whole  of  which  period 
He  was  still  led  by  the  Spirit.  The  Spirit  took  Him  to  the 
place  of  temptation,  and  was  with  Him  through  the  process 
of  temptation.     Not  in  His  Deity  did  He  resist,  but  in  His 

I  perfect  Manhood.  Manhood  is  however  never  able  to 
successFuHy  resist  temptations  of  the  devil  save  when  ful- 
filling a  first  Divine  intention,  that,  namely,  of  depending 
upon  God,  and  thus  being  guided  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 
Thus  the  Man  Jesus  was  led  by  the  Spirit  into  the  wilder- 
ness, and  was  led  by  the  Spirit  through  all  the  process  of 
temptation. 

Herein  lay  the  deep  significance  of  this  temptation.  The 
second  Man,  acting  under  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit,  passed 
into  the  wilderness,  and  by  His  coming  challenged  evil ; 

,  and,  acting  simply  under  the  guidance  of  that  Spirit,  over- 

I  came. 

In  conclusion,  the  significance  of  the  temptation  may  be 
1  Mark  1 :  13.  ^  Luke  4 :  1,2. 


Introductory  l6l 

seen  by  placing  the  whole  of  the  facts  in  contrast  with  the 
account  of  the  temptation  of  Adam.  The  devil  challenged 
the  first  man.  The  second  Man  challenged  the  devil. 
The  devil  ruined  the  first  Adam.  The  last  Adam  spoiled 
the  devil.  The  first  Adam  involved  the  race  in  his  defeat. 
The  last  Adam  included  the  race  in  His  victory.  The  first 
Adam  stood  as  the  head  of  the  race,  and  falling,  dragged 
the  race  down  with  him.  The  last  Adam  stood  as  the 
Head  of  the  new  race,  and  being  victorious,  lifted  that  race 
with  Him. 

This  is  not  a  picture  of  the  last  Adam  doing  merely 
what  the  first  Adam  did,  going  into  the  place  of  passive 
life,  and  then  when  temptation  came,  resisting  it.  The 
second  Man  had  not  only  to  resist  temptation  when  it 
assailed  Him  for  His  own  sake,  but  He  had  to  lay  hold  of 
the  tempter,  and  defeat  him  and  punish  him  for  the  wrong 
he  did  in  the  ruin  of  the  first  man. 


XI 

THE  FIRST  TEMPTATION 

'  The  order  of  the  temptations  is  different  in  Matthew 
and  Luke.  In  both  the  suggestion  that  stones  be  turned 
into  bread  is  first.  Matthew  then  records  the  experience 
on  the  pinnacle  of  the  temple,  and  lastly  the  invitation  to 
worship  Satan  for  the  possession  of  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world.  Luke  reverses  the  order  of  the  last  two.  It  is 
almost  certain  that  the  order  in  Matthew  was  the  actual 
order,  for  Christ's  word  at  the  close  of  the  last  of  the 
temptations  as  there  chronicled  marks  the  end  of  the  proc- 
ess. "Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  Him 
only  shalt  thou  serve.  Then  the  devil  leaveth  Him ;  and, 
behold,  angels  came  and  ministered  unto  Him."  ^ 

There  is  no  detailed  account  of  the  forty  days  spent  in 
the  wilderness  prior  to  the  temptations  which  are  now  to 
be  considered  in  detail.  Mark  and  Luke  record  the  fact 
that  through  that  period  He  was  the  subject  of  temptation. 
He  moreover  declares  thgt  it  was  a  period  of  fasting,  "  He 
did  eat  nothing  in  those  days." '  It  is  most  likely  that  the 
temptation  of  the  forty  days  was  presented  by  the  foe  un- 
revealed  to  human  sight.  Having  been  foiled  through  the 
thirty  years  and  the  forty  days,  at  last  he  took  shape,  and 
as  Matthew  puts  it,  "  The  tempter  came  and  said  unto 
Him."  3 

In  examining  the  first  temptation,  as  also  in  the  remain- 

'  Matt.  4  :  lo,  lie  ^  Luke  4:2.  3  Matt.  4  :  3. 

162 


The  First  Temptation  163 

ing  two,  consider  first  the  attack ;  and  secondly,  the  re- 
pulse. And  y  .  further,  under  each  of  these  divisions  the 
same  method  vill  be  followed.  In  considering  the  attack 
of  the  enemy  notice,  first,  the  objective  point ;  second,  the 
avenue  of  approach ;  and  third,  the  argument  used.  In 
considering  the  repulse  notice,  first,  the  weapon  employed  ; 
second,  the  argument  rebutted  ;  and  third,  the  citadel  held. 

I.  In  the  first  attack  of  Satan  upon  Christ,  the  objective/, 
point  is  His  loyalty  to  the  will  of  God.  This  does  notr 
appear  on  the  surface,  and  in  that  fact  there  is  marked  the 
method  of  the  enemy.  He  never  foreannounces  the  point 
against  which  his  attack  is  to  be  directed,  but  an  examina- 
tion of  the  whole  situation  will  reveal  the  truth  of  the 
position.  As  has  been  already  emphasized,  Jesus  was  led 
by  the  Spirit,  driven  by  the  Spirit,  to  and  in  the  wilderness, 
and  in  that  fact  there  was  great  significance.  In  the  life 
of  every  being  wholly  devoted  to  the  will  of  God,  there  is 
nothing  accidental.  Every  detail  of  arrangement  is  in  the 
Divine  plan,  and  cannot  be  interfered  with  without  chang- 
ing the  result,  and  interfering  with  the  purpose.  The 
circumstance  of  hunger  was  not  only  within  the  Divine 
knowledge,  it  was  part  of  the  Divine  plan.  The  circum- 
stance of  hunger  was  incidental,  but  not  accidental.  It 
was  not  an  unexpected  contingency.  It  was  part  of  the 
Divine  programme.  Led  by  the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness 
He  was  taken  to  physical  hunger,  and  that  hunger  was  a 
necessary  process  in  the  economy  of  God,  a  circumstance 
within  His  will. 

This  is  emphasized  by  the  very  fact  of  His  being 
taken  to  the  wilderness.  If  there  had  been  no  necessity 
for  hunger,  the  temptation  might  have  taken  place  in  quite 
other  surroundings;  or,  to  put  the  matter  from  the  other 


164  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

side,  the  very  fact  of  His  being  led  to  and  through  forty 
days  in  a  place  barren  of  sustenance  for  physical  life,  indi- 
cates the  need  for  hunger,  and  at  last  suggests  its  meaning, 
the  suggested  meaning  being,  that  man  even  in  his  weak- 
ness, leaning  wholly  upon  God,  is  stronger  than  man  in 
strength  standing  alone,  stronger  moreover  than  the  forces 
that  are  against  him.  When  God  leads  a  man,  every  last 
detail  is  always  taken  into  account.  This  fact  should 
come  in  comfort  as  well  as  in  searching  power  to  every 
one.  There  are  no  accidents  to  those  who  abide  wholly 
within  the  will  of  God.  There  may  be  events  which  men 
outside  will  look  upon  as  accidents,  but  when  life  is  lived 
in  the  centre  of  the  circle  of  the  Divine  will,  nothing  can 
approach  it  save  those  things  which  are  foreordained,  and 
which  are  therefore  integral  parts  of  the  Divine  plan,  and 
the  Divine  programme. 

The  hunger  of  Jesus  therefore  was  within  the  purpose 
of  God  for  Him.  Now  if  He  might  be  persuaded  to 
cancel  this  circumstance,  small  and  unimportant  though  it 
appear.  He  would  nevertheless  throw  out  of  perfect  working 
order,  that  whole  Divine  plan.  If  He  could  only  be  per- 
suaded to  minister  to  His  physical  need  by  the  use  of  a 
Divinely-bestowed  power,  outside  the  Divinely-indicated 
line,  and  so  satisfy  His  hunger,  while  yet  in  the  place 
where  God  had  put  Him,  and  intended  that  He  should 
suffer  it,  then  that  act  of  personal  choice  against  the  choice 
of  God  would  controvert  the  whole  plan,  and  the  citadel 
towards  which  the  enemy  moves.  His  loyalty  to  the  will 
of  God,  would  be  taken. 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  the  point  towards  which  this  first 
temptation  was  directed  was  the  quiet,  peaceful  strength 
of  Jesus  as  He  rested  in  the  will  of  God  in  triumph  over 
all  circumstances.     That  is  the  objective  point. 


The  First  Temptation  165 

Now  consider  the  avenue  of  approach.  The  enemy 
appealed  to  the  sense  of  hunger.  Hunger  was  natural, 
and  therefore  sinless.  Perhaps  that  statement  needs  some 
word  of  explanation.  In  evangelical  teaching  and  think- 
ing to  speak  of  a  thing  as  natural,  is  often  to  associate  with 
it  the  idea  of  depravity.  For  instance,  to  speak  of  the 
natural  man  is  to  think  of  that  which  is  in  opposition  to 
the  spiritual  man.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  Paul  uses 
the  term  "  natural "  invariably  in  reference  to  man  in  his 
fallen  nature.  It  must  however  never  be  forgotten  that 
behind  the  fallen  is  the  unfallen.  God's  archetypal  Man 
is  the  truly  natural  man.  This  is  not  to  quarrel  with  the 
apostle's  use  of  the  word,  but  to  indicate  the  meaning, 
when  it  it  said  that  hunger  was  natural.  If  man  had  never 
sinned  he  would  still  have  grown  hungry.  Hunger  is  not 
a  result  of  sin.  It  is  a  consciousness  Divinely  implanted, 
which  suggests  the  need  for  food.  It  is  a  part  of  the  won- 
derful economy  of  God  for  the  sustenance  of  the  physical 
need  of  man.  In  the  use  of  the  body  there  is  a  waste  of 
tissue,  and  for  its  reconstruction  there  must  be  a  reception 
of  food.  Whenever  that  food  is  necessary  there  is  a  sense 
of  need,  that  sense  being  hunger.  Hunger,  then,  is  within 
God's  gracious  economy  in  the  creation  of  man. 

Notice  carefully  that  it  was  after  the  lapse  of  the  forty 
days  that  Jesus  was  hungry.  It  would  seem  as  though 
during  their  passing.  He  was  unconscious  of  His  physical 
need.  His  thoughts  had  been  of  things  within  the  spirit- 
ual realm,  and  the  demands  of  the  physical  had  been  un- 
recognized. At  the  close  of  forty  days  the  sense  of  need 
swept  over  Him.  He  was  hungry.  That  sense  of  hunger 
was  perfectly  sinless.  To  satisfy  it  is  the  natural  action  of 
a  perfect  Man.  The  hunger  is  a  God-created  sense.  To 
feed  it,  to  satisfy  it,  is  to  fall  in  with  the  Divine  purpose. 


l66  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Now  mark  the  subtlety  of  the  enemy.  God  had  created 
the  need,  but  there  was  no  provision  there  for  its  satisfac- 
tion. The  temptation  proceeded  along  this  avenue,  and 
virtually  may  be  stated  in  this  form.  Thou  art  hungry, 
according  to  Divine  arrangement,  but  in  the  Divine  ar- 
rangement of  this  moment  there  is  no  provision  for  the 
satisfaction  of  Thy  hunger.  It  is  now  competent  for 
Thee  to  act  upon  Thine  own  initiative,  "  command  that 
these  stones  become  bread." 

Long  centuries  before,  the  devil  had  asked  a  question  in 
the  Divine  presence.  A  servant  of  God,  a  perfect  and  up- 
right man  was  living  in  such  conditions  that  all  the  neces- 
sities of  his  life  seemed  to  be  met,  and  the  enemy  coming 
before  God,  said,  "  Doth  Job  serve  God  for  nought  ?  "  ^ 
Around  that  question  and  insinuation  of  evil,  the  magnifi- 
cent book  of  Job  circles.  The  suggestion  made  was,  that 
Job's  loyalty  to  God  was  ensured  by  the  satisfaction  of  all 
physical  need.  Job  was  full  and  wealthy  through  the  benefi- 
cence of  heaven.  Let  him  be  emptied  and  impoverished, 
and  the  strain  put  upon  his  loyalty  would  break  down.  To 
put  it  in  the  more  vulgar  language  of  the  street.  Job  feared 
God  for  what  he  could  get.  Thus  the  devil's  estimate  of 
human  life  is,  that  the  only  reason  for  man's  loyalty  to 
God  is  that  God  meets  every  demand  of  his  need  as  it 
arises ;  and,  moreover,  that  man's  happiness  consists  in  the 
satisfaction  of  his  material  nature,  in  a  word,  that  he  lives 
by  bread  alone. 

That  same  thought  underlay  the  temptation  of  the 
Master.  It  is  as  though  he  had  said  to  Him,  Thou  art 
hungry.  That  sense  of  hunger  is  a  part  of  the  Divine  ar- 
rangement. Therefore  it  must  be  right  to  satisfy  it.  If 
God  has  made  no  provision  for  the  satisfaction  of  a  need 
>  Job  I  :  9. 


The  First  Temptation  167 

which    He  has  created,  then  act  independently,  command  h 
that  the  stones  be  made  bread. 

The  subtlety  of  the  temptation  lies  within  the  fact  that 
the  devil  suggested  to  Christ  that  He  should  satisfy  a  per- 
fectly legitimate  craving.  The  evil  of  the  temptation  lies 
within  the  fact  that  he  suggested  that  a  legitimate  craving 
should  be  satisfied  in  an  illegitimate  way. 

Thus  Christ,  impoverished  and  hungry,  faced  the  old- 
time  lie,  by  meeting  temptation,  not  when  filled  with  the 
plentitude  of  Divine  gifts,  but  when  needing  that  which 
God  provides  for  all  His  creatures.  So  much  for  the 
avenue  of  approach. 

Now  notice  the  argument  the  enemy  used,  "  If  Thou  be 
the  Son  of  God,"  marking  carefully  the  meaning  of  the 
"If,"  and  the  reason  of  its  use  at  this  particular  crisis. 
The  temptation  closely  followed  upon  the  baptism.  But 
forty  days  ago  the  silence  of  the  long  thirty  years  had  been 
broken,  and  the  Divine  voice  had  said,  "  This  is  My  be- 
loved Son  in  Whom  I  am  well  pleased."  ^  Thus  the  seal 
of  God  was  set  not  merely  in  approbation  upon  the  perfec- 
tion of  the  life,  but  in  identification  of  the  personality  of 
Jesus.  "  This  is  My  beloved  Son."  Now  hear  the  enemy's 
"if."  "^Thou  art  the  Son  of  God."  ^  If  that  experi- 
ence of  forty  days  ago  was  really  anything  more  than  a 
phantasy,  a  vision  ;  if  what  the  voice  declared  be  true,  why 
remain  hungry  ?  What  is  the  use,  said  the  enemy  in 
effect,  of  a  position  without  its  privileges  ?  What  value 
is  there  in  being  the  Son  of  God  unless  Thou  shalt  make 
use  of  all  that  the  name  implies  ?  Mark  well  that  the 
devil's  idea  of  the  privileges  of  sonship  is  that  of  selfish 
gratification. 

This  temptation   moved  wholly  in  the  physical  realm. 
•Matt,  3:  17.  'Matt.  4:  3. 


i68  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

The  Man  Jesus  was  hungry,  and  the  enemy  took  advantage 
of  this  fact,  and,  moving  along  the  avenue  of  His  hunger, 
and  using  the  argument  of  His  Sonship,  he  suggested  that 
He  should  exercise  His  Sonship  for  the  satisfaction  of  His 
hunger,  without  reference  to  the  fact  that  His  hunger  at 
the  moment  was  a  part  of  the  will  of  His  Father. 

To   sum   up.     The   objective  point  was  the  loyalty  of 

Jesus  to  the  will  of  God.     The  avenue  of  approach  was 

the  perfectly  natural  and  sinless  hunger  of  His  manhood. 

The  argument  used  was  that  if  He  were  the  Son  of  God, 

/  He  might  use   that  privilege  to  minister  to  His  necessity, 

^^  without  consulting  the  will  of  His  Father. 

There  was   nothing   in   that   temptation  which   had   the 

slightest  suspicion  of  vulgarity.     The  devil  did  not  suggest 

that  He  should  minister  to  any  craving  of  life  that  was  not 

in  itself  right.     Indeed  such   suggestion  would  have  been 

utterly  useless,  for  there  was  no  such  craving  in  Him.     It 

was   so,  even  then,  as   He   said   afterwards,  that  the  devil 

r  "  Cometh :   and   he  hath   nothing   in   Me."  ^     The   enemy 

y  asked   Him  to   do  a  right  thing  in  a  wrong  way,  to  satisfy 

i   a  lawful  appetite  in  an  illegal  fashion,  to  make  use  of  the 

1    privileges  of  Sonship  for  violating  its  responsibilities.     The 

temptation  was  an  attempt  to  pervert  the  will.     This  was 

done  by  a  subtle  suggestion  of  the  unkindness  of  God,  in 

order  to  quench  love  towards  God.     This  suggestion  was 

of  the   nature   of  an   attempt  to  cloud  the  intelligence,  by 

mixing  the  privileges  and  responsibilities  of  Sonship. 

II.  Turning  to  the  repulse  of  the  enemy,  notice,  first, 
the  weapon  which  the  Master  used.  His  first  words  reveal 
it.  "  It  is  written."  These  words  He  addressed  to  Satan 
in  answer  to  the  suggestion.     He  was  not,  however,  by  any 

' John  14 : 30. 


The  First  Temptation  169 

means  entering  into  an  argument  with  the  devil.  There  is 
nothing  of  the  nature  of  argument  through  the  whole  proc- 
ess. It  is  rather  that  Jesus  defined,  in  the  hearing  of  the 
enemy,  His  own  position.  By  the  very  first  words  He  de- 
clared His  submission  to  law.  As  against  the  enemy's  sug- 
gestion that  He  should  use  the  privileges  of  Sonship,  He 
declared  the  binding  nature  of  its  responsibilities.  "  It  is 
written,"  is  a  declaration  of  the  fact  that  He  stood  within 
the  circle  of  the  will  of  God,  and  what  that  will  permitted, 
He  willed  to  do  j  and  what  that  will  made  no  provision  for. 
He  willed  to  do  without. 

That  which  was  written  was  part  of  the  law  of  God  as 
given  to  Moses,  and  recognizing  the  Divinity  of  this  law, 
He  at  once  revealed  that  He  lived  by  words  proceeding  out 
of  the  mouth  of  God.  Thus  the  opening  words  reveal  the 
weapon  of  His  defence,  and  define  the  position  of  His 
safety. 

His  citation  of  the  Mosaic  law  serves  to  rebut  the  argu- 
ment made  use  of  by  the  enemy.  That  argument  had 
been  suggested  by  the  words,  "  If  Thou  be  the  Son  of 
God."  Let  it  be  particularly  noted  that  in  the  first  word 
of  the  quotation  Christ  made  answer  to  the  false  suggestion 
of  that  argument.  That  first  word  was  the  word  "  man," 
"man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone."  The  devil  said,  "If 
Thou  be  the  Son  of  God."  Jesus  said,  "man."  Thus  to 
put  the  emphasis  on  the  first  word  is  to  discover  the  phi- 
losophy of  Christ's  answer  to  this  particular  temptation,  a 
declaration  of  position  rather  than  an  argument,  and  yet  in 
the  declaration  a  great  argument  is  involved.  It  is  as 
though  Jesus  had  said  to  the  enemy,  I  am  here  as  Man,  and 
as  Man  I  meet  thy  temptation.  That  temptation  had  been 
to  over-emphasize  the  privileges  of  a  Son,  and  to  minimize 
the  responsibilities  of  humanity.     Christ's  answer  restored 


170  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

the  true  balance,  and  with  magnificent  courage  inferentially 
declared  that  His  presence  in  the  wilderness  was  a  challenge 
to  the  devil  on  the  part  of  a  representative  Man.  In  all 
probability  in  the  temptation  of  the  devil  there  had  also 
been  a  recognition  of  the  larger  thought  of  the  Divine  pro- 
nouncement, namely,  a  recognition  of  the  Deity  of  Christ 
as  indicated  in  the  title  "  Son  of  God,"  and  therefore  the 
craft  of  the  attack  was  even  yet  more  marked,  in  that  he 
may  have  suggested  that  the  weakness  of  humanity  should 
be  strengthened  by  the  exercise  of  Deity.  If  that  was  in- 
deed so,  then  all  the  more  forceful  and  remarkable  was 
Christ's  answer.  He  declined  to  use  the  prerogatives  or 
powers  of  Deity  in  any  other  way  than  was  possible  to  every 
other  man.  He  did  not  face  temptation  nor  overcome  it  in 
the  realm  of  His  Deity,  but  in  the  magnificence  of  His 
pure,  strong  Manhood,  Manhood  tested  for  thirty  years  in 
ordinary  private  life,  and  for  forty  days  in  the  loneliness  of 
the  wilderness.  "  Man  "  is  the  first  word  and  the  forceful 
word.  Jesus  has  been  in  the  wilderness  as  man's  represent- 
ative, and  that  He  declared  when,  repulsing  the  attack  of 
the  enemy,  He  did  so  by  defining  thus  clearly  His  posi- 
tion. 

And  yet  consider  still  more  closely.  "  Man  shall  not 
live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that  proceedeth  out 
of  the  mouth  of  God."  ^  Weak  from  the  hunger  follow- 
ing upon  forty  days  of  fasting,  the  devil  suggested  that  He 
should  strengthen  Himself  with  bread.  His  reply,  "  It  is 
written,"  is  a  revelation  of  the  true  sources  of  strength. 
The  strength  of  manhood  does  not  lie  in  the  assertion  of 
rights,  but  in  submission  to  the  will  of  God.  Mark  well 
how  that  answer  of  the  perfect  One  drags  into  light  the 
false  philosophy  of  evil,  which  the  fallen  race  has  uni- 
'  Matt.  4 :  4. 


The  First  Temptation  171 

versally  accepted.  The  most  applauded  position  that  man 
takes  is  that  in  which  he  declares,  I  prove  my  manhood  by 
the  assertion  of  my  rights ;  but  this  perfect  Man  declares 
that  the  strength  of  manhood  lies  in  the  absolute  abandon- 
ment of  His  will  to  the  will  of  God,  that  being  the  only 
right  He  possesses. 

In  the  last  analysis  the  argument  of  the  devil  had  been  a 
presupposition  that  all  man  needed  for  his  sustenance  was 
food  for  his  physical  life.  That  unwarrantable  assumption 
Christ  answered  by  declaring  that  no  man's  whole  life  can 
be  fed  by  bread  that  perishes.  He  needs  more,  that  his 
spirit  shall  be  fed,  and  its  strength  sustained  by  feeding  upon 
the  word  proceeding  from  the  mouth  of  God,  and  its  safety 
ensured  by  abiding  within  the  will  of  God. 

This  answer  was  given  out  of  the  midst  of  hunger,  and 
consequently  the  force  of  the  argument  is  increased  by  the 
attitude,  that  attitude  plainly  declaring  not  only  that  man 
cannot  live  by  bread  alone,  but  that  the  life  sustained  by 
bread  is  not  of  first  importance.  If  there  must  be  a  choice 
between  the  sustenance  of  the  spiritual  and  the  feeding  of 
the  physical,  the  latter  must  make  room  for  the  former. 

Thus  the  citadel  is  held  against  the  first  attack, — and 
how  magnificently  !  Reverently  declaring  the  thought  of 
Jesus  by  paraphrasing  His  actual  words,  it  is  as  though  He 
had  said  :  I  am  hungry,  but  as  that  lies  within  the  will  of 
God  for  Me,  I  choose  the  hunger  in  that  will,  rather  than 
to  find  any  satisfaction  outside  it.  What  a  glorious  vindi- 
cation of  the  essential  greatness  of  the  spiritual  man  ! 
Even  though  hunger  should  be  so  long  continued  that  the 
physical,  that  which  is  sustained  by  bread  alone,  should 
cease  to  exist,  even  then  man,  fed  to  all  fullness  by  the  Word 
of  God,  would  live.  In  every  man  in  this  probationary  life 
there  coexist  the  physical  and  the  spiritual,  and  in  all  the 


172  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

ordinary  dealings  of  God,  both  of  these  will  be  fed  where 
the  whole  man  is  abandoned  to  His  will.  Where,  how- 
ever, for  some  purpose  homed  in  His  perfect  love,  the 
physical  must  suffer  hunger,  by  the  suffering  of  that  hun- 
ger, because  it  is  the  will  of  God,  the  spiritual  is  strength- 
ened and  sustained.  In  that  philosophy  of  life  the  perfect 
Man  Jesus  won  His  victory  in  the  wilderness,  continued 
through  three  years,  and  at  last  emphasized  and  vindicated 
it  by  passing  with  kingly  majesty  to  the  death  of  the  Cross. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  man  seeks  to  satisfy  his  physical 
need  by  disregarding  the  Word  of  God,  which  is  the  food 
of  the  spiritual,  then  the  spiritual  destroyed,  the  physical, 
also,  at  last  shall  perish,  and  the  whole  man  be  lost.  Jesus, 
living  ever  and  only  according  to  the  Divine  plan,  at  last 
laid  down  His  life  and  took  it  again,  and  lives  forever  as 
the  deathless  One,  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on 
high. 

Thus  in  the  first  temptation  is  a  startling  revelation  of 
the  purpose  and  the  method  of  Satan,  and  of  the  true  sources 
of  man's  strength.  As  to  the  purpose  and  method  of  Satan, 
his  first  purpose  is  to  lure  man  into  some  position  outside  the 
will  of  God.  His  method  is  that  of  appealing  to  something 
perfectly  lawful  in  itself,  but  suggesting  that  it  should  be 
satisfied  by  an  unlawful  method.  As  to  the  sources  of 
man's  strength,  the  Lord's  answer  and  attitude  reveal  that 
man  is  not  merely  a  fed  animal.  He  is  essentially  spirit, 
and  spirit  depends  for  its  sustenance  upon  its  true  corre- 
spondence to  God.  This  correspondence  can  only  be  se- 
cured by  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  submission  to  the  will 
of  God,  as  revealed  in  the  Word  of  God.  He  abode  in  the 
will  of  God,  with  which  He  was  familiar  in  the  Word  of 
God,  and  choosing  the  hunger  that  resulted  from  dwelling 
in  that  will,  rather  than  the  passing  satisfaction  obtainable 


The  First  Temptation  173 

at  the  cost  of  disobedience,  He  repulsed  the  foe.  As  rep- 
resentative Man,  He  hurled  back  the  attack  which  was 
directed  towards  the  spoiling  of  the  beauty  and  perfection 
of  the  life  which  had  so  often  been  tried  in  the  thirty  years 
and  forty  days  preceding,  and  yet  had  always  conquered. 

Thus  the  first  attack  of  the  foe  is  seen  as  being  directed 
against  God's  Man,  and  the  first  victory  of  Jesus  is  seen  as 
been  gained  by  Man,  as  He  quietly  remained  within  the 
sphere  of  Divine  government.  The  Man  of  Nazareth, 
the  second  Man,  the  last  Adam,  stands  erect  at  the  close 
of  the  first  attack,  because  He  has  resolutely  refused  to  be 
enticed  by  any  argument  from  His  simple  and  unquestion- 
ing allegiance  to  His  God.  Man  with  God  is  equal  to  all 
strain,  and  superior  to  all  temptation. 


XII 
THE  SECOND  TEMPTATION 

There  is  no  definite  data  for  determining  the  length  of 
time  clasping  between  these  several  attacks.  In  all  proba- 
bility they  followed  each  other  in  quick  succession.  This 
seems  to  be  suggested  by  the  word  with  which  Matthew 
introduces  the  account  of  the  second  attack.  "  Then  the 
devil  taketh  Him  into  the  holy  city."  '  This  would  sug- 
gest immediateness,  that  directly  he  was  repulsed  at  the  one 
point,  he  commenced  the  attack  from  some  new  vantage 
ground.  He  had  attempted  the  overthrow  of  obedience 
through  an  attack  upon  the  physical  nature.  In  renewing 
the  attack  he  no  longer  appeals  to  the  element  of  weakness 
created  by  hunger,  but  to  that  which  was  the  very  strength 
of  spiritual  life,  namely,  the  Master's  trust  in  God. 

Following  the  order  of  the  previous  consideration,  first 
consider  the  attack ;  and  secondly,  the  repulse. 

I.     In  this  renewal  of  temptation  the  enemy  passes  to 
that   which   lies   behind  the   citadel  already  unsuccessfully 
assailed.     Having   endeavoured   to   ^duce  Jesus  from  His 
position  of  unswerving  loyalty  to  the  will  of  God,  he  now 
flings  all  the  force  of  his  subtle  art  against  that  which  was 
the  strength   of  His   abiding  in   the  will  of  God,  namely, 
iHis  perfect  confidence  in  God.     There  can  be  no  question 
that  the  element  of  strength  in  Christ's  resolute  steadfast- 
ness in  the  will  of  God  was  that  of  His  absolute  confidence 
in    His  Father,   His   quiet  and   perfect  trust.     It  was  this 
»  Matt.  4  :  5. 
174 


The  Second  Temptation  lyj; 

trust  which  made  Him  deliberately  choose  to  suffer  hunger 
which  lay  within  the  Divine  will,  rather  than  to  satisfy 
that  necessity  of  His  life  by  deviation  from  the  Divinely- 
marked  pathway  by  a  hair's  breadth.  The  enemy,  having 
failed  to  persuade  Him  to  turn  aside  from  that  pathway, 
now  directed  his  forces  against  the  principle  of  strength 
which  was  the  secret  of  the  previous  triumph  of  Jesus. 

Too  much  emphasis  can  hardly  be  laid  on  this  introduc- 
tory thought.  God's  perfect  Man  was  perfectly  victorious, 
and  that  because  His  trust  in  His  Father  was  so  complete 
that  His  relation  to  the  will  of  God  was  something  infi- 
nitely beyond  that  of  resignation  or  merely  of  determined 
submission.  It  was  that  of  delighting  in  whatever  was  the 
will  of  One  Whom  He  so  absolutely  trusted.  He  knew 
that  He  was  safer,  hungry,  in  the  will  of  God,  than  He 
could  have  been,  satisfied,  outside  that  will. 

This  being  the  objective  point,  now  carefully  mark  the 
terrible  subtlety  of  the  approach.  "  Then  the  devil  taketh 
Him  into  the  holy  city  ;  and  he  set  Him  on  the  pinnacle  of 
the  temple,  and  saith  unto  Him,  If  Thou  art  the  Son  of 
God,  cast  Thyself  down  :  for  it  is  written, — 

"  He  shall  give  His  angels  charge  concerning  Thee :  " 

and, 

"  On  their  hands  tb^y  shall  bear  Thee  up, 
Lest  haply  Tho'!*iash  Thy  foot  against  a  stone."  ' 

The  choosing  of  the  place  is  first  evidence  of  the  sub- 
tlety of  the  foe.  "  The  holy  city,"  and  in  the  holy  city 
"the  temple,"  and  in  the  temple  "  the  pinnacle."  How 
largely,  the  mind  is  often  influenced  by  surroundings. 
Changes  that  are  no  less  than  marvellous  are  brought  about 
in  the  attitude  of  the  mind  by  the  change  of  bodily  situa- 
•  Matt.  4  :  5, 6. 


176  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

tion.  Location  constantly  stirs  the  pulses  of  patriotism. 
All  the  nature  is  made  tender  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
old  homestead,  and  some  of  the  deepest  springs  of  religious 
feeling  well  forth  into  new  power  in  some  place  where 
long  ago  the  streams  of  living  water  refreshed  the 
thirsty  spirit.  It  is  always  impossible  to  revisit  any  place 
of  tender,  sacred,  or  holy  associations  without  being  pro- 
foundly influenced. 

How  much  this  place  meant  to  Jesus  we  are  hardly  in  a 
position  to  understand.  Every  sentence  in  the  account  is 
descriptive,  and  has  its  own  peculiar  value.  "  The  holy 
city."  It  is  doubtful  whether  we  are  able  to  appreciate  just 
what  that  meant  to  a  Hebrew.  In  order  in  any  measure 
to  do  so,  we  have  to  go  back  to  Hebrew  poetry,  and  read 
some  of  the  sentences  which  throb  with  such  devotion  as 
we  know  little  of,  in  these  days  of  many  cities  and  constant 
travelling.  "  Beautiful  in  elevation,  the  joy  of  the  whole 
earth,  the  city  of  the  great  King,"  ^  "  whither  the  tribes 
go  up,"  ^  "  as  the  mountains  are  round  about  Jerusalem."' 
These  and  all  such  sentences  minister  to  our  understand- 
ing. Jerusalem  was  the  very  centre  of  the  deepest  life 
of  the  nation,  and  all  the  aspirations  of  the  people 
centred  therein.  The  devout  child  of  Abraham,  in  what- 
ever part  of  the  earth  he  found  himself,  turned  his  face  to- 
wards the  city,  as  his  heart  went  out  to  the  God  of  his 
Fathers  in  prayer ;  and  concerning  it  thousands  would  join 
in  the  prayer  of  the  Psalmist  of  old 

"  If  I  forget  Thee,  O  Jerusalem, 
Let  my  right  hand  forget  her  skill." ^ 

Jesus   of  Nazareth  was  no  exception  to  the  rule.      How 
He  loved  the  city.     He   came  to   it   again  and   again,  and 
1  Psa.  48 :  2.         '  Psa.  122  :  4.  ^  Psa.  125  :  2.  *  Psa.  137  :  5. 


The  Second  Temptation  177 

when  at  last  it  had  finally  rejected  Him,  as  He  knew,  and 
it  was  necessary  that  He  should  pronounce  its  doom,  He 
did  so  in  a  voice  choked  with  emotion,  so  that  the  very 
curse  pronounced  was  wet  with  the  tears  of  His  pity. 

To  this  city  the  devil  conducted  Him.  Into  the  midst  of 
all  that  reminded  Him  of  God's  past  dealings  with  His 
people,  and  of  that  city  which  was  the  centre  of  the  prom- 
ises, Satan  brought  the  Master  when  he  would  attack  His 
trust  in  God. 

If  the  city  was  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  jew,  the  temple 
was  much  more  so.  It  was  the  centre  of  the  city ;  indeed, 
the  city  was  only  great  because  it  contained,  and  was 
gathered  around,  the  temple.  The  Hebrew  nation  was  a 
theocracy.  They  were  under  the  immediate  government 
of  Jehovah,  and  His  place  of  revelation  was  the  temple. 
That  temple  was  therefore  the  peculiar  glory  of  Jerusalem. 
Even  when  spiritual  values  were  at  a  discount,  there  still 
remained  in  the  heart  of  the  people  a  veneration  for  the 
temple,  and  devout  members  of  the  nation  ever  associated 
with  that  temple  all  that  was  highest  and  best  in  their  his- 
tory, experience,  and  hope.  It  was  indeed  the  very  house 
of  God. 

How  dear  it  was  to  the  heart  of  Christ  is  proven  in  many 
ways,  but  most  especially,  perhaps,  by  the  fact  that  at  the 
beginning  and  close  of  His  ministry  He  cleansed  it  from 
the  traffickers.  How  often  He  stood  in  its  courts,  and 
walked  in  its  porches,  and  addressed  Himself  to  the  multi- 
tudes, or  held  conversation  with  the  smaller  groups.  To 
that  centre  of  the  national  life,  the  point  at  which  the  re- 
ligion of  the  Hebrew  had  its  supreme  manifestation  and 
expression,  the  splendid  symbol  of  that  principle  of  faith  in 
God,  upon  which  the  whole  nation  had  been  created,  the 
enemy  conveyed  the  Christ. 


178  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

And  yet  once  more  note  the  particular  place  in  the 
temple  where  the  devil  set  Him.  The  word  "  pinnacle  " 
conveys  a  false  idea.  As  a  matter  of  fact  there  were  no 
pinnacles  on  that  temple.  The  marginal  reading  suggests 
the  word  "  wing,"  and  in  all  probability  the  point  referred 
to  was  that  of  the  southern  wing  of  the  temple  made  mag- 
nificent by  Herod's  royal  portico.  Josephus  tells  us  that 
standing  on  the  eastern  extremity  of  that  portico,  "  any  one 
looking  down  would  be  giddy,  while  his  sight  could  not 
reach  to  such  an  immense  depth."  This  was  the  one 
point  in  the  temple  which  might  be  described  as  of  a  great 
height.  It  was  the  most  magnificent,  the  most  strategic 
point,  that  point  to  which  any  one  would  be  taken  whom  it 
was  desired  to  impress  with  the  solemnity  and  splendour  of 
the  city  and  its  temple. 

Thus  to  the  heart  of  the  nation,  the  city ;  to  the  heart 
of  the  city,  the  temple  ;  to  the  most  awe-inspiring  situa- 
tion of  the  temple,  the  devil  brought  Jesus.  How  well  and 
subtly  chosen,  with  what  awful  cunning  and  malice  ! 
Everything  in  the  surroundings  was  calculated  to  appeal  to 
the  sense  of  trust  in  God.  It  would  seem  as  though  this 
were  the  last  place  in  which  to  attack  the  principle  of 
trust,  and  yet  considering  the  enemy's  suggestion,  the  ma- 
licious cunning  of  the  foe  will  be  seen  in  making  such  se- 
lection of  situation. 

Now  hear  the  suggestion.  Notice,  first,  the  palpable 
and  actual  proposal  of  the  enemy.  "  Cast  Thyself  down."  ^ 
It  is  a  direct  attempt  to  force  Jesus  to  act  upon  that  prin- 
ciple of  trust,  which  has  been  ministered  to  by  the  selec- 
tion of  this  particular  place.  In  the  city  of  the  great  King, 
in  the  house  devoted  to  His  worship,  at  its  most  awe-in- 
spiring point,  exercise  trust  in  Him  by  casting  Thyself 
>  Matt.  4  :  6. 


The  Second  Temptation  179 

from  this  great  height.  Behind  this  palpable  suggestion 
lay  one  inferred  and  indirect.  It  was  the  suggestion  that 
trust  most  perfectly  expresses  itself  in  daring  something 
unusual,  out  of  the  common,  heroic.  It  was  as  if  the 
enemy  had  said  to  Jesus,  There  is  no  necessity  for  Thee  tq 
Cast  Thyself  down.  It  does  not  come  in  the  ordinary  line 
of  duty,  but  so  much  the  greater  opportunity  for  a  venture 
of  faith, — trust  in  God  most  perfectly  expresses  itself  in 
the  doing  of  extraordinary  things  for  God.  The  enemy 
suggested  that  the  trust  of  Jesus  should  be  put  to  the  test 
and  proven  by  being  placed  outside  the  realm  of  the  com- 
monplace. Jesus  had  repulsed  the  first  attack  of  the 
enemy  in  the  strength  of  His  trust,  and  while  the  sense  of 
that  victory  based  on  trust  is  fresh  in  His  soul,  the  enemy 
suggests  the  unusual  exercise  thereofX  "  Cast  Thyself 
down."  Could  anything  be  conceived  more  full  of 
subtlety,  more  likely  to  entrap  the  unwary,  and  bring  about 
the  overthrow  of  what  had  seemed  to  be  an  impregnable 
life  ? 

The  plausibility  and  force  of  the  temptation  is  even 
more  vividly  seen  in  the  argument  which  the  devil  makes 
use  of,  "  If  Thou  art  the  Son  of  God."  ^  This  is  the  same 
argument  used  in  the  previous  temptation,  but  almost  cer- 
tainly with  a  different  emphasis.  In  the  first  in  all  prob- 
ability it  lay  upon  the  word  "  art,"  "  If  Thou  art  the  Son 
of  God."^  Here  it  seems  as  though  it  must  have  been 
upon  the  word  "  God"  "  If  Thou  art  the  Son  of  God." 
The  emphasis  would  be  upon  the  nature  of  God.  In  the 
first  temptation  He  has  proved  the  fact  of  His  relationship. 
Now  the  appeal  is  to  that  relationship.  He  is  prepared  to 
enlarge  upon  the  goodness  of  God,  and  the  care  He  be- 
stows upon  such  as  put  their  trust  in  Him.  Foiled  and 
1  Matt.  4:6.  2  Matt.  4 :  3. 


l8o  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

wounded  at  the  first  by  the  Master's  use  of  the  weapon  of 
the  Word,  he  now  makes  use  of  the  self-same  weapon. 
Behold  the  very  sword  of  Christ  in  the  hands  of  the  devil. 
Its  flash  is  seen  as  he  says,  "  It  is  written." 
i^In  endeavouring  to  appeal  to  the  principle  of  trust,  he 
made  use  of  Scripture.  Jesus  had  declared  that  man  lived 
not  by  bread  alone,  but  by  words  proceeding  from  the 
mouth  of  God,  and  in  an  attempt  to  urge  Him  to  a  new 
exercise  of  trust,  the  devil  quotes  the  Word  of  God.  He 
now  accepts  Christ's  definition  of  human  life  as  something 
more  than  animal.  He  acknowledges  that  it  is  the  spirit- 
ual life  that  needs  to  be  strong  for  the  exercise  of  trust ; 
and  moreover,  that  spiritual  life  is  only  strong  as  it  feeds 
upon  the  Word  ;  so  he  attempts  to  minister  to  Him  in  the 
realm  of  that  very  spiritual  nature.  It  is  a  startling  and  an 
appalling  picture.     "  It  is  written," — 


and. 


"  He  shall  give  His  angels  charge  concerning  Thee ; 


"  On  their  hands  they  shall  bear  Thee  up, 
Lest  haply  Thou  dash  Thy  foot  against  a  stone." ' 


That  is  the  very  acme  of  subtlety.  The  psalm  from  which 
the  quotation  is  made,  opens  with  the  words, — 

"  He  that  dwelleth  in  the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High 
Shall  abide  under  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty."  '■' 

This  is  a  description  of  the  perfect  safety  of  the  trusting 
soul.  Its  rhythm,  its  music,  and  its  sweetness  have  cheered 
the  heart  of  such  as  put  their  trust  in  God  through  all  the 
centuries  ;  and  as  the  enemy  now  attempts  to  press  the 
Master  towards  some  new  exercise  of  trust,  from  that  great 
psalm  of  confidence  he  quotes  these  words. 

'Matt.  4:6.  'Psa.  91 :  i. 


The  Second  Temptation  181 

So  far  something  has  been  seen  of  the  subtlety  and  force 
of  the  attack,  and  yet  the  final  revelation  of  that  only  comes 
when  our  Lord's  answer  lays  bare  its  inner  meaning. 

II.  Turn  now  to  consider  the  victory  of  Jesus,  and  in 
doing  so  note  first  of  all  the  weapon  He  used.  Again  the 
flash  of  the  sword  is  seen  as  He  says,  "  It  is  written."  It 
is  as  though  He  first  replies  to  the  very  subtlety  of  the 
enemy's  attack  by  revealing  the  fact  that  He  is  still  living 
upon  the  Word  of  God,  and  that  as  His  physical  being 
was  content  to  be  conditioned  by  the  law  of  God,  so  also 
it  is  that  law  which  defines  His  spiritual  responsibility.  He 
no  more  attempted  to  live  outside  the  realm  of  His  Father's 
will  in  spiritual  life  than  in  physical ;  and  was  no  more  pre- 
pared to  trespass  upon  the  limits  God  set  upon  His  spiritual 
liberty,  than  He  was  to  trespass  upon  the  limits  set  upon 
His  physical  being.  And  yet  notice  the  slight  variation  in 
the  form  of  His  use  of  the  weapon.  In  the  first  tempta- 
tion He  said,  "  It  is  written."  In  the  second  He  said, 
"  Again  it  is  written."  '  In  the  use  of  the  word  "  again  " 
is  a  revelation  of  our  Lord's  perfect  mastery  of  the  weapon. 
In  comparison  with  Christ  the  devil  was  a  poor  swords- 
man, when  he  attempted  to  use  the  sword  of  the  Spirit. 
It  would  seem  as  though  with  quiet  and  yet  mighty  move- 
ment of  His  strong  arm  Jesus  wrested  the  sword  from 
Satan.  The  force  of  the  "  again  "  lies  in  the  fact  that  it 
is  an  answer  to  Satan's,  "  it  is  written."  He  does  not  deny 
the  correctness  of  the  satanic  quotation,  but  He  replies  to 
it  by  saying,  "Again  it  is  written."  That  is  to  say,  there 
must  be  proper  use  made  of  the  words  of  God.  No  one 
statement  wrested  from  its  context  is  a  sufficient  warrant 
for  actions  that  plainly  controvert  other  commands.  "  It 
1  Matt.  4 :  7. 


l82  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

is  written,"  but  "Again  it  is  written,"  and  for  the  proper 
definition  of  life,  no  one  isolated  text  is  sufficient.  It  is 
necessary  that  there  should  be  acquaintance  with  the  whole 
scheme  of  the  Divine  will,  and  the  true  balance  and  pro- 
portion of  life  is  only  discovered  in  this  way. 

What  infinite  value  there  is  in  that  word  "  again." 
How  excellent  a  thing  it  would  be  if.  the  whole  Church  of 
Christ  had  learned  that  no  law  of  life  may  be  based  upon 
an  isolated  text.  It  is  ever  necessary  to  discover  the  varied 
sides  of  truth,  for  these  limit  each  other  in  operation,  and 
create  the  impregnable  stronghold  of  safety  for  the  soul  of 
man. 

In  a  study  of  the  heresies  of  the  Church — not  a  very 
profitable  one,  be  it  said — it  will  be  seen  that  all  these  have 
been  based  upon  Scripture  used  as  the  devil  uses  it — 
Scripture  taken  out  of  its  context,  and  out  of  its  relation  to 
the  whole  of  the  revelation.  Every  false  teacher  who  has 
divided  the  Church,  has  had  an  "  it  is  written  "  on  which 
to  hang  his  doctrine.  If  only  against  the  isolated  passage 
there  had  been  the  recognition  of  the  fact  that  "  again  it  is 
written,"  how  much  the  Church  would  have  been  saved. 

To  pass,  however,  to  the  actual  Scripture  with  which 
Christ  resisted  the  attack,  "  Thou  shalt  not  make  trial  of 
the  Lord  thy  God."  *  It  has  been  somewhat  commonly 
understood  that  here  Christ  was  addressing  Himself  to  the 
devil  as  though  He  should  say  to  him.  Thou  art  not  to 
make  trial  of  Me.  That,  however,  is  surely  to  miss  the 
supreme  value  of  the  words.  In  these  words,  as  in  those 
with  which  He  defeated  the  enemy  in  the  first  temptation, 
He  was  defining  His  own  position.  The  command, 
"  Thou  shalt  not  make  trial  of  the  Lord  thy  God,"  was 
addressed  to  man,  and  in  this  quotation  the  Lord  gave  His 
1  Matt.  4  :  7. 


The  Second  Temptation  183 

reason  for  refusing  to  cast  Himself  from  the  wing  of  the 
temple. 

Here,  then,  is  the  exposure  of  the  deepest  meaning  of 
this  subtle  attack.  What  could  be  more  excellent  to  all 
outward  seeming  than  that  this  perfect  Man  should  trust  in 
God  ?  What  more  fitting  than  that  He  should  prove  His 
trust  by  daring  something,  by  taking  some  great  risk  ?  In  a 
sentence  the  Master  strips  the  whole  hypocrisy  of  its 
speciousness,  and  reveals  the  murderous  intent.  To  have 
cast  Himself  from  the  wing  of  the  temple  into  the  abyss 
that  yawned  below  would  have  been  to  tempt  God,  and  in 
the  last  and  fine  analysis  would  have  demonstrated  not 
trust,  but  lack  of  confidence.  It  is  when  we  doubt  a  per- 
son that  we  make  experiments  to  discover  how  far  they  are 
to  be  trusted.  To  make  experiments  of  any  kind  with 
God,  is  to  reveal  the  fact  that  one  is  not  quite  sure  of  Him. 
Trust  never  desires  to  tempt,  to  test,  to  trifle.  It  calmly, 
quietly  abides  in  sure  confidence.  With  what  matchless 
skill  this  perfect  Man  has  revealed  at  once  the  strength  and 
weakness  of  the  satanic  onslaught.  The  true  territory  of 
trust  is  revealed  by  the  Lord's  answer.  That  territory  is 
again  the  will  of  God.  In  effect  the  Master  declared  that 
He  could  trust  God  perfectly  so  long  as  He  remained 
within  the  sphere  of  His  revealed  will,  but  that  if  He 
passed  out  of  that  sphere,  then  He  had  no  right  to  trust, 
and  could  not  trust. 

What  infinite  value  for  all  men  is  there  in  this  unfolding 
of  the  true  nature  of  faith  in  God.  The  devil  is  perpet- 
ually saying.  Do  something  adventurous,  do  something 
magnificent,  do  something  out  of  the  ordinary,  and  thus 
demonstrate  your  confidence.  The  Master  is  always  reply- 
ing :  Trust  is  not  evidenced  by  such  action.  That 
would  be  to  tempt  God,  and  to  tempt  Him  is  to  reveal  the 


184  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

death  of  trust.  Trust  never  makes  experiments  outside 
the  Divinely  marked  pathway.  Such  experiments  are  evi- 
dences of  timidity  rather  than  of  trust. 

Thus  again  the  citadel  is  held,  and  the  foe  is  vanquished. 
Jesus  refusing  to  tempt  God,  demonstrated  His  perfect  con- 
fidence in  Him,  and  thus  revealed  for  all  time  the  fact  that 
man,  so  devoid  of  selfish  interest  as  to  be  willing  not  to  ap- 
pear heroic,  in  confidence  may  dare  all  hell,  and  issue  from 
the  conflict  more  than  conqueror. 

In  these  first  two  temptations  the  twofold  nature  of  the  sec- 
ond Man  has  been  subjected  to  severest  testing,  and  the  last 
Adam,  Head  of  the  new  race,  has  been  proved  invulnerable 
to  the  assaults  of  evil.  Weakness  in  the  physical  realm 
was  tested.  Strength  in  the  spiritual  realm  was  attacked. 
Physical  weakness,  abiding  in  the  will  of  God,  proved 
stronger  than  the  mightiest  force  of  evil ;  and  spiritual 
strength,  calmly  content  with  what  seemed  to  be  the  com- 
monplace of  life,  was  demonstrated  mightier  than  all  the 
subtlety  of  spiritual  wickedness.  The  Man  Jesus  is  victo- 
rious over  evil  in  both  departments  of  His  nature.  Be- 
hold Him,  God's  perfect  Man,  standing  still  erect,  not 
merely  in  the  perfection  of  created  and  untried  humanity, 
but  having  passed  through  trial  and  testing  still  triumphant. 
He  has  chosen  hunger,  rather  than  bread  which  God  does 
not  provide.  He  has  selected  to  appear  to  lack  daring, 
rather  than  to  demonstrate  His  fear  by  testing  God.  When 
the  alternative  of  hunger  in  the  will  of  God,  or  food  out- 
side, was  presented  to  Him  there  was  not  one  moment's 
hesitation ;  and  yet  again  He  elected  the  commonplace  of 
patient  waiting,  rather  than  the  brilliant  magnificence 
of  an  act,  which  would  have  revealed  fear  rather  than 
faith. 

In  what  clear  shining  the  deepest  facts  of  human  life  are 


The  Second  Temptation  185 

revealed  in  these  hours  of  the  temptation  of  the  Son  of 
Man.  Perhaps  nowhere  is  life  seen  to  be  more  simple. 
Man  in  his  fall  has  rendered  it  complex  by  endeavouring  to 
act  upon  a  thousand  different  principles,  and  with  complexity 
has  come  confusion.  This  Man  had  but  one  principle,  and 
that  the  will  of  God,  and  whether  the  enemy  approached 
along  the  line  of  physical  necessity,  or  of  spiritual  activity, 
it  mattered  not,  he  was  foiled  and  driven  backward.  It 
is  for  man  to  remember  that  by  the  mystery  of  His  Cross 
and  passion,  and  the  triumph  of  His  resurrection,  this  victo- 
rious One  now  dwells  in  him.  In  proportion  as  man  is 
loyal  to  Him,  as  He  was  to  God,  his  loyalty  is  also  loyalty 
towards  God,  and  as  He  conquered  the  subtlest  temptations 
of  the  evil  one,  so  also  may  all  be  "  more  than  conquerors 
through  Him  that  loved  us."  ^ 

I  Rom.  8:  37. 


XIII 

THE  THIRD  TEMPTATION 

Twice  repelled,  the  enemy  returned  for  the  third  and 
last  time.  His  attack  upon  the  physical  side  had  resulted 
in  the  demonstration  of  the  possibility  of  righteousness  to  a 
Man  Whose  conception  of  life  was  that  bread  sustenance 
is  secondary,  and  the  spiritual  relation  preeminent.  Thus 
foiled,  he  had  proceeded  to  attempt  the  ruin  of  Jesus  on 
the  spiritual  side  of  His  nature,  by  endeavouring  to  interfere 
with  the  simplicity  of  His  trust  in  God.  Here  again  he 
was  utterly  defeated,  and  the  truth  demonstrated,  that  trust 
which  refuses  to  make  any  unordained  experiments,  is  proof 
against  all  opposition. 

Now  against  this  human  being,  in  Whom  the  relation  be- 
tween body  and  spirit  is  perfectly  balanced,  because  the 
whole  life  is  lived  in  right  relation  to  God,  the  enemy 
comes  with  a  new  attack,  in  which  he  attempts  to 
work  the  ruin  of  Jesus  in  the  sphere  of  His  specific  mis- 
sion. 

This  is  in  many  ways  the  boldest  and  most  daring  adven- 
ture of  the  devil.  For  this  last  attempt  he  casts  ofF  all  dis- 
guise, and  presuming  upon  the  awful  victories  he  has  won 
in  the  history  of  the  human  race,  he  definitely  asks  the 
homage  of  Christ.  Never  up  to  that  moment,  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  race,  had  any  individual  soul  proved  strong 
enough  to  finally  resist  this  terrible  foe.  Through  thirty 
years  of  lonely  conflict,  and  forty  days  of  special  testing, 
and  two   fierce  and  fearful  attacks,  the  Man  Jesus  has  re- 

i86 


The  Third  Temptation  187 

mained  the  Victor.  There  remains  but  one  chance.  Hav- 
ing failed  to  ruin  Him  in  His  essential  manhood,  it  may  yet 
be  possible  to  lure  the  perfect  Servant  from  the  pathway  of  per- 
fect service.  Through  the  previous  conflicts,  the  Victor  has 
stripped  the  vanquished  of  his  disguise,  and  again  and  again 
revealed  the  true  motive  and  awful  malice  of  evil,  though  it 
had  been  skillfully  hidden  behind  arguments  the  most  plaus- 
ible. 

Now  the  enemy  strips  himself  of  all  disguise,  ceases  to 
make  use  of  secondary  causes,  and  definitely  asks  the  hom- 
age of  Christ.  It  is  his  last  and  most  daring  bid  for  pos- 
session of  the  citadel  hitherto  successfully  held  against  him. 

I.  Here  again  in  examining  the  attack  of  the  enemy, 
the  objective  point  is  the  first  thing  to  be  discovered. 

This  is  no  longer  the  ruin  of  the  Man  Himself,  but  the 
prevention  of  His  accomplishment  of  that  work  for  which 
He  had  been  preparing,  and  for  which,  but  forty  days  ago. 
He  was  solemnly  anointed.  As  has  been  seen,  at  the  pass- 
ing of  Jesus  into  the  waters  of  baptism.  He  signified  His 
consent  to  be  numbered  with  the  transgressors,  and  there- 
fore His  willingness  to  tread  the  pathway  that  must  issue 
in  death,  in  order  that  a  new  highway  of  life  out  of  death 
might  be  opened  for  the  ruined  race.  It  is  against  the 
carrying  out  of  this  programme,  and  the  accomplishment 
of  this  purpose,  that  the  present  temptation  is  directed. 
Having  failed  utterly  in  his  attempt  to  ruin  the  Servant,  he 
now  would  interfere  with  His  service.  Here,  as  always, 
there  is  a  blindness  and  a  folly  about  evil,  and  Satan  does 
not  seem  to  understand  that  the  strengthening  of  the  per- 
fect Servant,  resulting  from  His  victory  under  temptation, 
is  yet  increased  guarantee  of  His  perfect  victory  in  the 
pathway  of  appointed  service. 


i88  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Examine  now  the  avenue  of  his  approach.  Conveying 
Him  to  some  high  mountain  peak,  he  showed  Him  "  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  world,  and  the  glory  of  them."  '  What 
that  meant,  it  is  not  easy  to  comprehend,  and  yet  for  a  mo- 
ment, think  of  the  statement.  By  some  strange  power,  at 
the  command  of  the  enemy,  he  made  to  pass  before  the 
vision  of  Christ  a  gorgeous  and  magnificent  scene.  He 
revealed  to  Him  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  and  the  glory 
of  them.  Not  merely  the  few  and  imperfect  kingdoms  of 
Palestine,  but  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  the  great 
Roman  empire,  Greece,  Pergamos,  Bithynia,  the  Bosphorus, 
Syria,  Pontus,  Judaea,  and  Egypt,  all  the  known  kingdoms 
of  the  world.  And  yet  more  than  this,  for  the  statement 
has  no  such  limitation  as  that  indicated  by  the  word  made 
use  of:  ''known  kingdoms."  All  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world,  the  great  unexplored  lands  with  their  thousand 
nations  and  tribes.  Any  literal  interpretation  contradicts 
the  real  story.  Luke  tells  us  that  the  devil  gave  Christ 
the  vision  of  these  "  in  a  moment  of  time."^  It  is  evident 
that  having  taken  Him  to  some  great  mountain  height, 
where  instinctively  the  mind  would  be  impressed  with  the 
sense  of  greatness  and  of  splendour,  he  flashed  upon  Him 
in  one  swift  and  supernatural  manifestation,  a  vision  of  the 
kingdoms,  and  their  glory.  The  possibility  is  that  Christ 
saw  more  than  the  devil  knew.  Satan  is  not  omniscient, 
and  though  in  the  marvellous  wisdom  of  his  created  intelli- 
gence he  may  be  able  to  forecast  the  issues  of  certain  lines  of 
action,  beyond  such  forecasting,  which  is  ever  presumptive 
rather  than  positive  knowledge,  he  is  not  able  to  go. 
The  God-man  on  the  other  hand,  while  standing  only  in 
the  realm  of  His  manhood  for  testing  and  temptation,  may 
yet  have  been  conscious  of  all  the  prospective  grandeur  of 
'Matt.  4:8.  3  Luke  4: 5. 


The  Third  Temptation  189 

these  self-same  kingdoms.  He  saw  that  day  the  glory  of 
them  as  they  were,  the  wealth,  the  strength,  the  cities 
where  the  treasures  of  the  nations  were  gathered,  all  the 
resources  of  the  far-spreading  lands,  the  teeming  popula- 
tions, the  scientific  victories,  and  artistic  achievements,  the 
glory  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  world.  It  was  a  truly  mag- 
nificent and  overwhelming  spectacle.  I  make  no  attempt 
to  explain  how  the  devil  flashed  the  vision  upon  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  Christ.  That  remains  a  mystery,  but 
the  fact  is  plainly  stated  that  he  showed  Him  all  the  king- 
doms of  the  world,  and  the  glory  of  them. 

With  the  dazzling  spectacle  upon  the  mind  of  the 
Master,  the  enemy  uttered  the  actual  words  of  the  tempta- 
tion, "  All  these  things  will  I  give  Thee,  if  Thou  wilt  fall 
down  and  worship  me."  ^  Notice  here  particularly  the 
claim  the  devil  set  up,  and  let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  the 
claim  was  made  in  the  presence  of  Jesus.  He  claimed 
some  right  to  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  and  the  claim 
was  based  upon  certain  unquestionable  facts.  These  king- 
doms had  become  what  they  were,  largely  under  his  con- 
trol. They  were  at  the  moment  submissive  to  his  sway, 
obedient  to  his  laws,  being  led  captive  by  him  at  his  will. 
For  the  larger  part,  the  whole  of  them  were  blindly  asleep 
in  the  arms  of  the  wicked  one.  By  the  very  temptation, 
Satan  seems  to  lay  claim  to  a  title,  which  Jesus  Himself 
gave  him  incidentally  at  a  later  period,  *'  the  prince  of  this 
world."  ^  The  fact  of  his  sway  is  undisputed.  He  was 
then  as  he  is  to-day,  exercising  authority  over  all  those 
who  are  in  darkness,  and  he  is  perpetually  paying  his  price 
to  those  who  serve  him.  If  Judas  desires  thirty  pieces  of 
silver,  the  devil  will  find  them  for  him,  on  condition.  If 
men  will  but  serve  him,  he  will  give  them  what  they  ask. 
>  Matt.  4:9.  3  John  12:31. 


190  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Wealth,  fame,  position,  power  are  all  in  the  gift  of  the 
devil.  He  holds  them,  and  he  actually  dispenses  them,  in 
order  to  attain  ends  upon  which  his  malice  is  set.  What 
these  gifts  are  worth,  in  the  last  analysis,  is  another  ques- 
tion, which  will  be  answered  in  the  process  of  this  con- 
sideration. 

And  so  in  effect  he  declared  to  Christ  that  whether  the 
people  knew  it  or  not,  they  were  under  his  sway,  that  he 
was  the  prince  of  the  world,  and  he  offered  to  give  Jesus 
the  whole  of  the  kingdoms,  and  the  glory  of  them,  if  there 
on  the  lone  mountain  peak  He  would  but  render  homage 
to  him,  and  receive  them  as  his  gift.  All  other  men  had 
submitted  to  his  direction  in  order  to  gain  some  imagined 
advantage,  and  now  he  boldly  suggested  to  Christ  that  He 
should  do  the  same. 

The  real  point  and  force  of  the  temptation  can  only  be 
understood  as  the  sublime  and  magnificent  Psalm  of  the 
King  is  remembered.  In  that  Psalm  it  is  declared  that 
God's  anointed  King  shall  be  His  Son. 

"  Yet  have  I  set  my  King 
Upon  My  holy  hill  of  Zion. 
I  will  tell  of  the  decree : 
Jehovah  said  unto  Me,  Thou  art  My  Son ; 
This  day  have  I  begotten  Thee,"  ' 

At  the  baptism  Jesus  was  identified  by  the  Divine  pro- 
nouncement, "  This  is  My  beloved  Son."  ^  Reverting 
again  to  the  Psalm,  the  promise  of  God  to  the  anointed 
King  is  given. 

"  Ask  of  Me,  and  I  will  give  Thee  the  nations  for  Thine  inheritance, 
And  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  Thy  possession. 
Thou  shall  break  them  with  a  rod  of  iron ; 
Thou  shalt  dash  them  in  pieces  like  a  potter's  vessel."' 

>  Psalm  2  :  6,  7.  « Matt.  3:17.  «  Psalm  2 :  8, 9. 


The  Third  Temptation  igi 

Thus  Jesus  is  God's  chosen  King,  to  Whom  He  has 
promised  the  nations  for  an  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  earth  for  a  possession.  But  He  promised 
these  to  the  King,  when  He  shall  ask  them  of  God. 
That  asking  is  to  be  along  the  line  of  a  Divinely  appointed 
approach,  which  includes  the  pathway  through  death, 
symbolized  by  the  baptism,  which  had  preceded  the  identifi- 
cation of  Jesus  as  the  King. 

Here  on  a  mountain  peak  of  the  enemy's  choosing,  in 
contrast  to  the  holy  hill  of  Zion  upon  which  God  will 
establish  His  King,  this  anointed  One  was  offered  the  self- 
same kingdoms  of  the  world.  All  that  God  has  promised 
Him  was  here  seen  in  the  dazzling  splendour  of  that 
momentary  vision.  There  were  the  nations,  there  were 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  the  things  guaranteed  to 
the  King  by  the  covenant  with  Jehovah.  The  devil  hav- 
ing surely  understood  something  of  the  suggestiveness  of 
the  Jordan  baptism,  and  the  consequent  uttering  of  the 
voice  of  God,  now  suggested  to  Jesus  that  He  might  miss 
that  deeper  baptism  and  passion,  and  yet  possess  these  king- 
doms. He  pointed  out  a  short  cut  to  a  Divine  destina- 
tion. He  was  willing  to  hand  over  his  right  and  claim,  if 
all  might  but  be  received  from  him,  instead  of  from  God. 
One  act  of  fealty,  one  recognition  of  the  devil's  owner- 
ship, one  moment  of  bending  the  knee,  and  all  the  king- 
doms were  promised.  Sometimes  one  wonders  whether 
there  did  not  lurk  in  the  temptation  a  revelation  of  the 
devil's  cowardice.  The  fact  that  he  revealed  the  kingdoms 
in  a  moment  of  time,  may  have  been  due  to  his  fear,  lest 
if  this  Man  should  have  lingered  to  examine  them.  He 
might  discover  their  worthlessness.  His  suggestion,  more- 
over, that  Christ  should  take  the  kingdoms  as  his  gift,  may 
have  been  due  to  dark  and  gloomy  fear  of  the  conflict  with 


192  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Him,  through  which  Christ  would  yet  win  them.  Here 
the  very  element  of  the  primal  fall  of  Satan  flames  out. 
Not  merely  for  the  ruin  of  this  Man,  but  for  the  saving  of 
himself  from  defeat,  and  the  maintenance  of  the  false 
position  he  has  occupied,  would  he  shun  the  terrible  con- 
flict that  lies  ahead. 

And  yet  the  temptation  meant  more  to  Christ  than  even 
Satan  in  the  deepest  reaches  of  his  subtlety  could  possibly 
comprehend.  The  terrible  nature  of  the  suffering  through 
which  Jesus  had  yet  to  pass,  could  not  be  perfectly  under- 
stood of  Satan,  neither  did  he  absolutely  know  the  meas- 
ure of  defeat  that  waited  for  him.  Christ  knew  that  these 
kingdoms  were  assured  to  Him  in  the  programme  of  His 
Father's  will,  but  He  knew  also  that  in  that  same  pro- 
gramme lay  the  unutterable  agony  of  the  immeasurable 
darkness,  and  the  fierceness  of  the  temptation  lay  in  the 
suggestion  that  all  the  splendours  of  these  possessions  might 
yet  be  His,  without  the  pathway  of  shame  and  suffering 
and  death.  Not  that  He  entertained  or  meditated  for  a 
single  moment  the  possibility  of  yielding  to  the  foe,  but 
He  saw  into  the  very  heart  of  the  meaning,  and  understood 
even  as  the  tempter  could  not,  the  infinite  cost  at  which 
He  was  yet  to  possess. 

n.  Now  notice  the  repulse  of  the  enemy.  For  the  first 
time  the  Master  spoke  to  Satan  in  the  language  of  His 
own  authority.  That  authority  had  been  created  by  the 
victories  He  had  won  in  the  previous  attacks.  He  had  in 
His  manhood  proved  stronger  than  the  strong  man  jarmed, 
mightier  than  the  terrible  foe  of  humanity,  and  in  that 
manifested  strength  He  now  addressed  him,  "  Get  thee 
hence,  Satan."*  This  was  no  longer  a  challenge.  It  was 
*  Matt  4 :  10. 


The  Third  Temptation  193 

a  command.  All  the  effort  and  power  of  evil  failed  to 
encompass  His  capitulation,  and  now  from  that  citadel  of 
mighty  strength  He  dictated  terms  to  the  enemy  without 
the  gates,  and  named  him  Satan,  the  slanderer,  the  calum- 
niator, the  liar. 

In  that  authoritative  word,  spoken  in  answer  to  this  par- 
ticular temptation,  there  was  first  the  refusal  of  tht  devil's 
suggestion,  and  then  a  flashing  revelation  of  the  method  by 
which  He  will  yet  possess  the  kingdoms  of  the  world. 
The  enemy  said.  Pay  homage  to  me,  and  I  will  give  Thee 
the  kingdoms.  Christ  virtually  replied,  I  will  obtain  these 
kingdoms  not  by  paying  homage  to  thee,  but  by  thine  evic- 
tion. The  devil,  the  liar  from  the  beginning,  was  attempt- 
ing to  rob  Christ  of  that  which  he  was  promising  Him ; 
was  aiming,  in  this  last  desperate  adventure  of  his  malice, 
to  cast  God  out  of  His  own  world.  AThe  Master's  answer 
was  a  word  of  tremendous  authority,  based  upon  the  perfec- 
tions of  His  manhood  as  against  temptation,  and  also  upon 
the  victories  to  be  won  in  that  death  from  which  the  enemy 
dared  to  attempt  to  lure  Him./^From  that  moment  in  the 
wilderness  until  now,  Christ  has  been  repeating  that  word, 
by  every  victory  won  in  the  soul  of  man.  By  all  the 
triumphs  of  the  Cross  among  the  nations,  and  by  those 
victories  to  come  in  the  final  movements  of  the  Divine 
programme.  He  is  repeating  the  irrevocable  edict  of  the 
wilderness,  "  Get  thee  hence,  Satan." 

The  order  thus  issued  is  rendered  emphatic  and  forceful 
by  His  use  of  the  same  sword  of  the  Spirit.  Again  the 
flash  of  the  sword  is  seen  as  He  said,  "  It  is  written.  Thou 
shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  Him  only  shalt  thou 
serve,"  ^  Again  He  declared  that  He  stood,  in  service  as 
well  as  in  the  facts  of  His  own  being,  within  the  will  of 
1  Matt.  4 :  10. 


194  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

God.  He  had  homage  for  none  save  Jehovah,  and  to  Him 
alone  would  He  render  service.  How  perfectly  this  word 
of  the  Master  rebutted  the  argument  of  Satan.  As  in  each 
of  the  previous  cases  so  here,  the  command  quoted  had 
application,  not  to  Satan,  but  to  Himself.  It  was  not  that/^ 
the  Lord  ordered  Satan  to  worship  God,  but  that  He  de- 
clared, in  the  presence  of  the  enemy,  that  there  was  one 
all-sufficient  reason  for  His  refusal  to  render  homage  to 
him,  namely  that  the  Word  of  God  enjoined  that  He 
should  worship  only  God.  Thus  for  the  winning  of 
victory  in  the  pathway  of  specific  service.  He  took  His 
place  as  Man,  and  declared  it  impossible  that  He,  abiding 
in  the  Divine  will,  should  worship  or  serve  any  but  God. 

Notice  here  particularly  the  linking  of  worship  and  serv- 
ice, and  see  how  this  applies  to  the  temptation.  In  the 
mind  of  Jesus  it  is  evident  that  worship  and  service  are 
closely  identified,  indeed,  are  two  aspects  of  the  same  atti- 
tude. To  worship  is  always  to  serve.  To  pay  homage  is 
ever  to  recognize  an  obligation.  The  enemy  said  nothing 
in  his  temptation  about  service.  He  asked  for  worship^ 
only.  Christ's  answer  reveals  the  fact  that  to  worship  him 
would  be  to  serve  him.  This  the  enemy  in  his  terrible  t 
subtlety  did  not  declare.  He  had  asked  for  worship,  prom-— 
ising  that  the  kingdoms  should  then  belong  to  Christ. 
Christ's  reply  declared  that  promise  to  be  a  lie,  in  that  the 
act  of  homage  would  issue  in  the  fact  of  service,  so  that 
the  supreme  authority  would  remain  that  of  Satan. /It  was 
the  devil's  deliberate  attempt  to  deceive  the  last  Adam  as 
he  had  deceived  the  first,  and  so  to  prevent  the  creation  of 
the  new  race,  as  he  had  ensured  the  ruin  of  the  first. 

His  answer,  moreover,  revealed  the  fact  of  His  self- 
emptying,  and  yet  His  consciousness  that  self»-emptying 
must  issue  in  a  perfect  crowning.     Not  for  Himself  did  He 


The  Third  Temptation  195 

come  to  win  the  kingdoms,  but  for  His  Father,  and  yet  it 
pleased  the  Father  that  in  Him  should  all  the  fullness  dwell, 
and  for  a  period  unmeasured  by  human  calculation,  by  the 
way  of  the  Cross  He  would  ascend  the  throne,  and  reign 
over  all  these  kingdoms.  And  even  when  in  the  distant 
ages  He  finally  will  deliver  up  the  kingdom  to  the  Father, 
yet  in  His  eternal  association  with  Him,  He  will  possess 
and  reign  over  the  whole  territory  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Thus  the  anointed  King  utterly  routs  the  enemy,  and 
perfectly  holds  the  citadel  against  this  his  last  attack,  and 
how  great  the  victory  is,  and  upon  what  infinite  wisdom 
His  choice  of  the  Father's  pathway  was  based  !  To  have 
received  the  kingdoms  from  Satan  (even  granting  for  the 
sake  of  argument,  that  which  cannot  be  granted,  that  He 
had  ascended  the  throne  by  submission  to  the  prince  of  the 
world)  would  have  been  to  have  taken  a  position  utterly 
worthless.  The  kingdoms,  notwithstanding  all  their  ap- 
parent glory  and  splendour,  were  permeated  with  evil. 
They  were  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  that  is,  of  the 
Cosmos.  The  very  glory  of  them  was  purely  material.  ^ 
All  the  splendour  manifest  was  that  of  the  enthronement  of 
things  material,  at  the  cost  of  the  death  of  the  spiritual./ 
To  Him,  therefore,  it  was  patent  that  within  the  splendour 
there  lurked  the  shadow.  The  elements  of  destruction 
were  surely  at  work.  Disintegration  was  evident  in  the 
fact  that  they  were  kingdoms.  The  plurality  was  a  proof 
of  weakness.  There  was  conflict,  and  strife,  and  manifes- 
tation of  break-up,  rather  than  of  unity.  Until  this  hour 
that  fact  remains,  for  those  whp'have  eyes  to  see.  The 
world  is  still  full  of  kingdoms,  and  these  are  armed  to  the 
teeth.  If  one  shall  move,  the  rest  watch  with  envious 
eyes,  and  all  the  finest  skill  of  the  world's  statecraft  is  di- 
rected to  selfish  purposes,  and  the  prevention  of  the  enrich- 


196  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

ment  of  others.  The  evidence  of  weakness  lies  in  the  very 
fact  that  the  devil  showed  Him  kingdoms.  God's  Man  of 
perfect  vision  saw  this,  and  clearly  understood.  He  knew, 
too,  that  the  glory  was  the  glory  of  tinsel,  rather  than  of 
gold.  It  was  passing,  fading,  tarnished,  even  as  He  looked 
upon  it.  The  splendour  was  undoubtedly  great,  but  it  was 
not  lasting.  It  was  that  of  the  Cosmos  only,  and  that  ever 
lacked  the  element  of  permanence.  He  knew  the  truth  of 
what  John  afterwards  wrote,  "  The  world  passeth  away, 
and  the  lust  thereof:  but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  God 
abideth  forever."  ^ 

When  Jesus  therefore  refused  the  offer  of  the  devil.  He 
refused  the  imperfect  thing,  the  perishing  thing;  and  He^ 
was  able  to  do  it  because  doing  the  will  of  God  He  Him- 
self, in  spite  of  the  death  before  Him,  must  abide  forever, 
and  through  that  death,  and  that  alone.  He  was  communi- 
cating imperishable  force  to  all  He  gathered  around  Him- 
self. By  the  victory  of  His  Cross  the  kingdoms  would  be 
of  infinite  value,  for  being  permeated  with  righteousness 
under  the  government  of  God,  they  would  be  unified,  and 
no  longer  should  be  spoken  of  as  kingdoms.  Pass  for  a 
moment  to  those  after-years  when.  His  victory  won  and 
He  ascended.  He  gave  to  His  servant  in  the  lonely  isle 
visions  and  words,  declaring  the  last  movements  in  the 
mighty  programme.  "  The  kingdom  of  the  world  is  be- 
come the  kingdom  of  our  Lord,  and  of  His  Christ :  and 
He  shall  reign  forever  and  ever."  Note  carefully  "  the 
kingdom."  In  the  Authorized  Version  the  reading  was 
plural.  In  the  Revision  there  is  a  correction  which  is  of 
infinite  value.  "  The  kingdom  of  the  world,"  no  longer 
the  many,  but  the  one,  "  is  become  the  kingdom,"  not 
many,  but  one,  "  of  our  Lord,  and  of  His  Christ."  And 
1  I  John  2 :  17. 


The  Third  Temptation  197 

now  because  He  has  dealt  with,  and  cast  out  the  element 
of  evil,  disintegration  is  impossible,  "  He  shall  reign  for- 
ever and  ever."  ^ 

Thus  Jesus  chose  to  move  towards  the  establishment  of 
one  throne  and  one  kingdom.  The  contrast  should  ever 
be  kept  in  mind.  The  devil  showed  the  Master  the  king- 
doms, tribes,  divisions,  containing  the  elements  of  conflict 
and  of  break-up.  Jesus  refused  them.  He  did  not  desire 
the  kingdoms.  He  had  come  for  the  kingdom.  He  re- 
fused the  tarnished  glory  of  a  wrecked  ideal,  and  chose  the 
radiant  splendour  of  a  fulfilled  purpose,  even  though  the 
pathway  to  the  goal  was  the  pathway  of  the  Cross. 

It  must  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  great  word  in 
Revelation  "  the  kingdom  of  the  world,"  does  not  refer  in 
the  first  place  to  the  nations,  but  to  the  actual  kingdom  of 
the  Cosmos.  All  the  splendour  of  material  things  shall, 
under  the  perfect  reign  of  God,  be  beautified  and  perfected. 
In  the  final  victory,  the  whole  creation  which  to-day  groans 
and  travails  in  pain,  will  be  redeemed  ;  and  being  restored 
to  their  proper  place  in  the  Divine  economy,  material 
things,  subservient  to  spiritual  things,  shall  also  abide. 
The  vision  Jesus  had  of  the  issues  of  the  Cross  were  far 
more  magnificent  than  that  which  the  devil  gave  Him 
of  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  and  the  glory  of  them.  /'It 
was  because  He  saw  the  higher  that  He  refused  the  lower. 
Escape  from  the  pathway  of  pain  could  at  best  only  have 
resulted  in  the  possession  of  the  lower.  Not  for  one  single 
moment  did  God's  perfect  Man  hesitate.  He  did  not 
pause  to  compare  the  proposal  t)f  Satan,  and  the  purpose 
of  God.  The  glorious  consciousness  of  coming  victory 
was  the  joy  that  was  set  before  »Him,  and  that  joy  made 
hell's  offer  paltry,  mean,  blasphemous,  and  impertinent ; 
•  Rev.  II  :  15. 


198  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

and  with  stern  and  magnificent  authority  He  commanded 
Satan  to  depart,  and  announced  the  fact  of  His  abiding  in 
the  will  of  God,  to  Whom  alone  He  would  render  wor- 
ship, and  Whom  alone  He  was  prepared  to  serve. 

Thus  His  victory  was  won,  not  only  in  the  realm  of  His 
personality,  but  also  in  the  sphere  of  His  official  position; 
and  the  devil  was  routed  in  his  attack  at  every  point. 

The  triumph  of  Jesus  was  perfect  in  the  realm  of  His 
physical  life,  in  that  of  His  spiritual  nature,  and  in  that  of 
His  appointed  work.  Let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  in  all 
human  nature  the  work  is  the  final  thing.  Man  was  cre- 
ated for  work.  God  made  him  that  he  might  act  in  co- 
operation with  Himself,  for  the  fulfillment  of  Divine  pur- 
poses. That  is  true  in  every  individual.  The  being  thus 
created  for  work,  consists  of  body  and  spirit.  The  mind  is 
the  consciousness,  which  is  the  outcome  of  this  dual  per- 
sonality. Where  there  is  right  relationship  and  perfect 
harmony  between  the  physical  and  spiritual,  man  is  equal  to 
the  work  appointed.  Where  the  instrument  is  injured,  the 
work  is  made  impossible  of  achievement.  The  enemy 
first  attacked  this  second  Man  in  an  attempt  to  ruin  Him 
by  appealing  to  a  necessity  of  His  physical  nature.  He 
was  utterly  unsuccessful,  for  Jesus  recognized  that  the  es- 
sential fact  of  human  nature  is  spirit,  and  wherever  there 
comes  the  necessity  for  conflict  between  the  need  of  the 
material  and  that  of  the  spiritual,  the  former,  being  sub- 
servient, must  minister  to  the  latter,  which  is  essential. 

Defeated  at  this  point  the  enemy  then  flung  the  force  of 
his  terrible  subtlety  against  the  spiritual  nature,  attempting 
the  ruin  of  the  entire  Man,  by  suggesting  that  He  should 
make  unwarranted  venture  upon  the  basis  of  His  trust  in 
God,  Here  again  he  was  driven  back  by  the  quiet  and 
splendid  heroism,  which  refused  that  which  had  all  the  ap- 


The  Third  Temptation  199 

pearance  of  heroic  action,  but  which  would  have  been  proof 
of  fear,  and  lack  of  confidence. 

Then  the  enemy,  driven  from  his  earthworks,  stood  in 
the  open,  and  manifested  himself  in  all  the  diabolic  daring 
of  his  actual  desire.  He  asked  for  the  homage  of  perfec- 
tion. Then  in  the  open  he  received  his  final  defeat,  as  the 
perfect  and  unharmed  Man  chose  still  only  to  worship  and 
serve  Jehovah,  and  in  the  might  of  that  choosing,  authorita- 
tively commanded  the  enemy  to  depart.  The  second  Man, 
perfectly  balanced  in  body  and  spirit,  and  resolutely  abiding 
in  the  attitude  of  unswerving  loyalty  to  God,  was  invulner- 
able against  all  the  forces  of  evil.  At  every  point  where 
man  had  failed  He  was  victorious.  In  every  weakness  of 
man's  life  He  was  strong,  and  in  the  great  Crisis  of  tempta- 
tion He  overcame  with  majestic  might,  and  so  completely 
broke  the  power  of  the  enemy,  that  forevermore  Satan  is 
the  conquered  foe  of  the  race. 


XIV 

FINAL 

After  studying  a  picture  in  detail,  it  is  always  well 
to  look  at  it  from  a  distance.  In  this  way  effects  are  dis- 
covered which  cannot  be  discerned  in  a  more  critical 
examination.  There  are  certain  interesting  facts  connected 
with  this  crisis  in  the  mission  of  Christ  which  have 
not  come  under  the  observation  in  the  former  studies. 
These  facts,  while  closely  connected  with  the  whole 
story,  belong  peculiarly  to  no  section  thereof,  and  there- 
fore have  so  far  eluded  notice,  but  they  are  altogether  too 
valuable  to  be  omitted. 

Before  passing  from  the  general  subject  then,  look 
at  the  temptation  as  a  whole,  making  certain  observations, 
principally  concerning  the  two  central  figures,  Satan  and 
Jesus,  the  tempter  and  the  Tempted. 

I.  Consider  the  tempter  first.  And  the  first  point 
of  interest  is  that  of  a  perpetual  method,  incidentally 
revealed  in  his  attack  upon  Jesus.  Carefully  read  the  quo- 
tations from  Scripture  in  which  Jesus  replied  to  his 
attacks,  side  by  side  with  the  passages  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. 

In  answer  to  the  first  He  said,  "  It  is  written,  Man 
shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that 
proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God."  ^  That  is  a  quotation 
from  Deuteronomy.  "  And  He  humbled  thee,  and  suffered 
thee    to  hunger,  and  fed  thee  with  manna,   which  thou 

•  Malt.  4  :  4. 
200 


Final  2oi 

knewest  not,  neither  did  thy  fathers  know,  that  He  might 
make  thee  know  that  man  doth  not  live  by  bread  only,  but 
by  everything  that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  Je- 
hovah doth  man  live."  ^ 

In  answer  to  the  second  temptation  He  said,  "  Again  it 
is  written.  Thou  shalt  not  make  trial  of  the  Lord  thy 
God."^  That  is  a  quotation  from  Deuteronomy.  "Ye 
shall  not  tempt  Jehovah  your  God,  as  ye  tempted  Him  in 

Massah."^  ^^ 

In  answer  to  the  third  He  said,  "  It  is  written.  Thou 
Shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  Him  only  shalt  thou 
serve.""  That  is  a  quotation  also  from  Deuteronomy. 
"Thou  shalt  fear  Jehovah  thy  God;  and  Him  shalt  thou 
serve,  and  shalt  swear  by  His  name."* 

These  answers  of  Jesus  reveal  the  order  of  the  attacks. 
First  bread,  then   trust,  and   then  worship.     If  the  refer- 
ences  in   Deuteronomy  are  now  observed,  it  will  be  dis- 
covered that  they  are  quoted  in  opposite  order  to  the  way 
in  which  they  occur  in  the  book.     In  answer  to  the  temp- 
tation concerning  bread  Christ  uttered  words  to  be  found  in 
Deut.  8:3.     In  replying  to  the  temptation  directed  against 
trust.  His  quotation  was  from  Deut.  6  :    16.     While  in  re- 
plying   to    that    in    the    realm   of   worship,   the   quotation 
is  from   Deut.  6:  13.     In   the   law  of  God,  the  order  is 
worship,  trust,  bread.     That  order  the  devil  inverted,  and 
his  temptations  proceeded  as  to  bread,  trust,  worship.    1  his 
is  a  revelation  of  the  perpetual  method  of  Satan,  and  also 
of  his  estimate  of  humanity.     All  attempts  to  work  the 
ruin  of  man  by  the  enemy  are  based  upon  a  low  concep- 
tion of  human  life,  to  which  he  attempts  to  gain  the  con- 
sent   of  the    tempted.     His    unfailing    plan    is    to  act   as 

•  Deut.  8:  3.  «  Matt.  4  =7-  3Deut.6:l6. 

4  Matt.  4;  10.  B  Deut.  6:13. 


202  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

though  man  were  less  than  God  has  called  him  to  be, 
while  he  endeavours  to  degrade  him  to  the  level  of  his 
own  suggestion.  He  appeals  first  to  man  as  being  animal 
only,  calling  him  to  satisfy  his  material  appetite,  as  though 
that  were  the  sum  total  of  life.  God  never  so  appeals  to 
man,  even  in  his  fall.  Notwithstanding  the  ruin  and  the 
wreckage  of  human  life,  the  message  of  God  is  always  one 
that  calls  man  first  to  worship,  and  a  recognition  of  his 
spiritual  nature.  The  Divine  plan  is  ever  that  of  recog- 
nizing the  Divinity  in  man,  the  magnificence  of  his 
spiritual  being,  ruined  magnificence  to-day,  and  yet  truly 
magnificent  in  the  ruin,  because  capable  of  communion 
with  God.  The  Word  of  God  is  ever,  "  Seek  ye  first  His 
kingdom ; "  ^  and  then  He  appeals  to  the  trust  in  man, 
and  promises  him  bread  and  all  things  necessary.  Satan 
called  this  Man  to  feed  His  physical  life,  and  endeavoured 
to  break  down  His  trust  in  God,  and  to  divert  His  worship 
from  the  true  to  the  false,  and  so  change  His  allegiance 
and  His  service  to  bondage  and  slavery. 

Then  again  notice  how  the  enemy  silently  confessed  his 
defeat.  That  is  impressively  evident  by  the  fact  that 
in  each  temptation  the  Master  gave  him  but  one  reply. 
No  second  argument  was  needed.  Looking  back  on  that 
threefold  process,  in  the  wilderness,  on  the  wing  of  the 
temple,  and  on  the  high  mountain,  there  is  seen  a  Man,  on 
each  occasion  occupying  an  impregnable  position,  standing 
in  a  fortress  that  hell  is  utterly  unable  to  capture,  replying 
to  each  attack  in  one  brief  sentence.  The  silence  of  the 
enemy  after  the  reply  of  the  Lord  was  a  clear  confession 
of  his  defeat,  and  a  remarkable  proof  that  he  is  unable  to 
gain  any  advantage  over  those  who  are  content  to  abide,  at 
whatever  cost,  in  the  will  of  God. 

J  Matt.  6 :  33. 


Final  203 

To  those  who  know  anything  of  the  devices  of  Satan, 
and  the  persistency  of  his  opposition,  his  silence  with 
regard  to  each  several  temptation  after  the  first  reply 
of  Jesus,  is  evidence  at  once  of  the  perfection  of  that 
reply,  and  the  utter  discomfiture  of  the  foe. 

Yet  once  again.  In  this  temptation  there  is  an  intima- 
tion of  the  devil's  estimate  of  the  worth  of  Jesus.  After 
showing  Him  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  and  the  glory  of 
them,  he  declared  his  conviction  that  to  capture  the  soul 
of  Christ  would  be  a  greater  victory  than  all  his  conquests. 
He  reckoned  this  perfect  Man  to  be  worth  all  over  which 
he  claimed  to  have  gained  authority.  "  All  these,"  said 
the  enemy,  and  the  offer  included  the  result  of  the  dreadful 
persistency  of  diabolical  endeavour  through  long  centuries, 
the  evolution  of  evil  through  tedious  processes.  The  spot- 
less Son  of  God  was,  in  the  estimate  of  the  devil,  of  more 
value  than  all.  In  effect  the  enemy  said,  I  will  give 
to  Thee  all  that  has  cost  so  much,  if  I  may  but  gain  for 
one  moment  Thy  homage.  It  is  a  stupendous  and 
startling  revelation,  the  devil's  estimate  of  the  worth  of 
Christo  There  are  persons  who  say  that  they  cannot 
understand  the  expiatory  work  of  Christ  on  the  Cross,  be- 
cause of  the  difficulty  of  believing  that  the  suffering 
and  death  of  One  could  possibly  be  sufficient  for  the 
redemption  of  the  world.  Those  who  speak  of  this  diffi- 
culty evidently  hold  Christ  at  lower  valuation  than  did  the 
devil.  He,  comparing  the  world  with  the  Master,  tacitly 
acknowledged  the  greater  worth  of  Jesus.  Satan  evidently 
reckoned  that  unless  he  could  bring  Christ  into  subjection, 
nothing  he  had,  would  he  be  able  to  hold.  He  evidently 
recognized  the  infinite  value  of  this  second  Man ;  and  un- 
derstood, moreover,  the  relation  of  that  undepreciated 
value  to  the  redemption  of  the  world. 


204  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

And  yet,  moreover,  remarkable  as  is  this  estimate,  from 
another  standpoint  the  offer  of  Satan  was  a  piece  of  in- 
sufferable and  impertinent  blasphemy.  The  kingdoms 
of  the  world  for  this  pure  soul  ?  It  seems  at  first  assuredly 
a  great  conception  of  the  Master's  value,  and  yet  one  day, 
Jesus,  holding  the  scales  of  infinite  accuracy  in  His  right 
hand,  revealed  that  any  life,  even  though  bruised  and 
broken  by  sin,  was  worth  more  than  all  the  world.  Said 
He,  "What  doth  it  profit  a  man,  to  gain  the  whole  world, 
and  forfeit  his  life  ?  "  ^  and  yet  Satan  dared  to  suggest  that 
the  pure  and  spotless  One,  heaven's  delight  and  earth's 
hope,  might  be  purchased  for  the  kingdoms  of  the  world 
and  the  glory  of  them. 

Thus  in  these  scenes  of  the  testing  of  the  Son  of  Man, 
Satan  is  revealed  that  men  may  nevermore  be  ignorant 
of  his  devices.  The  last  Adam  has  dragged  him  from  his 
hiding-place,  and  held  him  to  view  in  the  clear  shining  of 
the  light,  so  that  he  is  known  for  a  liar,  the  father  of  lies, 
for  the  traducer,  the  calumniator ;  and,  moreover,  for  the 
foe  who  is  defeated,  whose  power  is  broken,  and  who  must 
at  last  lose  his  kingdom. 

n.  Turning  attention  now  to  the  tempted  One  Who 
became  the  Victor,  notice,  first,  His  use  of  the  Word 
of  God  under  the  process.  His  attitude  towards  the  Word 
is  clearly  revealed  in  the  fact  that  under  stress  of  these  ter- 
rible onslaughts  of  evil.  His  life  was  wholly  conditioned  by 
the  law  found  in  Scripture.  As  defining  His  own  position 
He  quoted  directly  from  the  law  of  Moses.  By  so  doing. 
He  placed  Himself  under  it,  and  acknowledged  its 
authority.  This,  moreover,  was  no  mere  unofficial  sealing 
of  that  law.  He  declared  plainly  that  it  had  proceeded 
»  Mark  8 :  36. 


Final  205 

from  the  mouth  of  God.  Thus  He  set  His  imprimatur 
upon  the  Divine  authority  of  the  Mosaic  economy.  This 
should  never  be  lost  sight  of.  While  this  is  not  the  only 
occasion  upon  which  He  did  this,  there  is  no  other  more 
remarkable.  When  Jesus  was  tried  as  Man  by  the 
powers  of  darkness,  He  revealed  the  fact  that  He  stood 
within  the  limits  of  life,  dominated  by  the  sacred  writings 
with  which  He  was  familiar;  and  in  simple  but  explicit 
statement  sealed  those  Scriptures  as  of  Divine  origin  and 

authority. 

In  this  connection  notice  also  His  marvellous  familiarity 
with  the  Word  of  God.  This  is  proven,  not  by  the  length 
of  the  quotations,  for  they  were  brief,  but  by  their  imme- 
diate applicability  to  the  need  of  the  moment.  This  could 
only  be  done  by  a  Man  Who  was  familiar  with  the  sacred 
writings,  and  of  Whom  it  might  be  said,  even  more  fully 
than  of  Timothy,  that  from  a  child  He  had  known  the 
holy  Scriptures. 

This  fact  of  His  familiarity,  and  of  its  value  in  the  hour 
of  temptation,  should  ever  be  borne  in  mind  by  those  who 
are  still  in  the  place  of  testing.  Strength  to  overcome  in 
the  hour  of  such  testing,  is  assured  to  those,  and  to  those 
only,  who  are  familiar  with  the  Word  of  God,  not  merely 
as  to  its  letter,  but  as  to  its  spiritual  value. 

Without  hesitation  Jesus  quoted  the  one  verse  in  all  the 
Library  that  perfectly  defined  His  own  position,  and  re- 
vealed the  evil  lying  behind  the  plausibility  of  the  foe. 
To  do  this  was  proof,  not  merely  of  familiarity  with  the 
letter,  but  of  His  clear  understanding  of  the  application 
thereof  to  human  life. 

In  the  second  place  notice  the  relation  that  the  tempta- 
tion bore  to  the  public  ministry  of  the  Master.  He  passed 
into  the  wilderness  full  of  the  Spirit  j  "  and  Jesus,  full  of 


2o6  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

the  Holy  Spirit,  returned  from  the  Jordan,  and  was  led  in 
the  Spirit  in  the  wilderness  during  forty  days."  '  At  the 
close  of  the  temptation  it  is  recorded,  "  And  Jesus  returned 
in  the  power  of  the  Spirit  into  Galilee  :  and  a  fame  went 
out  concerning  Him  through  all  the  region  round  about."* 
Mark  well  the  two  statements.  "  Full  of  the  Spirit,"  "  in 
the  power  of  the  Spirit " ;  and  between  the  fact  of  fullness 
and  the  fact  of  power  He  was  led  by  the  Spirit  through 
these  severe  processes  of  temptation.  "  Full  of  the  Spirit" 
He  went  down  to  the  wilderness.  "  In  the  wilderness  " 
He  was  "  led  in  the  Spirit."  From  the  wilderness  to  public 
ministry  He  passed  "  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit." 

Between  the  condition  prior  to  temptation  and  that  fol- 
lowing it,  there  is  a  distinction  and  a  difference.  It  is  that 
which  exists  between  the  plenitude  of  the  Spirit  and  the 
power  of  the  Spirit.  The  plenitude  of  the  Spirit  is  the  re- 
sult and  evidence  of  holiness  of  character,  and  is  in  itself 
capacity  and  sufficiency  for  service.  The  power  of  the 
Spirit  is  the  consciousness  which  is  born  of  victories  won, 
and  triumphs  achieved.  He  entered  upon  temptation  full 
of  the  Spirit,  that  is  to  say,  in  possession  of  all  power 
necessary  for  the  fulfillment  of  His  work.  But  power  be- 
stowed, becomes  truly  powerful  when  it  has  been  tested 
through  the  process  of  temptation.  What  is  seen  in  per- 
fection in  Christ,  is  a  lesson  that  men  do  well  to  lay  to 
heart.  Fullness  of  the  Spirit,  becomes  the  power  of  the 
Spirit,  through  processes  of  testing.  Herein  is  revealed  the 
value  of  the  trials  and  temptations  that  beset  the  pathway 
of  the  Christian  worker.  In  the  experience  of  all  those 
who  know  anything  of  what  it  is  to  follow  in  the  footsteps 
of  the  Lord  in  God-appointed  service,  the  power  of  the 
Spirit  is  never  realized  save  through  some  wilderness  of 
'  Luke  4:1.  5  Luke  4 :  14. 


Final  207 

personal  conflict  with  the  foe.  From  such  experience  en- 
tered upon  in  the  fullness  of  the  Spirit,  men  go  out  either 
broken  and  incapable  of  service,  or  with  the  tread  and  force 
of  conscious  power;  in  which  way,  depends  upon  the  atti- 
tude in  which  the  enemy  is  met.  If  in  the  spirit  of  self- 
complacency,  then  the  devil  is  invariably  the  victor.  If  in 
the  spirit  of  resolute  abandonment  to,  and  abiding  in  the 
will  of  God,  the  foe  is  routed,  and  consciousness  of  Pftwer^ 
is  the  inevitable  sequence. 

And  once  again.  That  whole  temptation  gives  a  very 
valuable  insight  into  the  relation  of  Jesus  to  the  principali- 
ties and  powers.  First  with  regard  to  those  which  are 
fallen.  Luke  writes,  "  And  when  the  devil  had  completed 
every  temptation,  he  departed  from  Him  for  a  season."  ^ 
The  wording  is  most  expressive.  "  When  the  devil  had 
completed  every  temptation  "  can  only  be  interpreted  into 
a  statement  of  the  fact  that  the  devil  had  exhausted  himself, 
and  had  no  other  line  upon  which  he  found  it  possible  to 
approach  the  uncaptured  citadel  of  the  Son  of  God. 
"  Then  the  devil  leaveth  Him,"  ^  says  Matthew  ;  and  Luke 
declares,  "the  devil  departed  from  Him  for  a  season."  Both 
are  right.  Matthew  leaves  the  fact  stated  in  all  its  magnifi- 
cence, the  King  perfectly  victorious  over  the  foe.  Never 
again  did  the  enemy  approach  Christ  in  the  same  way. 
Never  again  is  the  perfect  Man  seen  in  defensive  conflict 
with  the  foe.  His  presence  in  the  wilderness  was  a  chal- 
lenge to  the  enemy,  but  it  was  a  challenge  in  which  He 
forced  Satan  into  attack,  rather  than  one  in  which  He  at- 
tacked the  enemy.  The  victory  is  perfect.  From  that 
moment  the  records  only  reveal  Him  speaking  to  Satan, 
and  to  all  demons  under  his  sway,  in  words  of  quiet,  abso- 
lute, Kingly  authority.  In  the  power  of  the  Spirit  He 
"Luke  4: 13.  'Matt,  4:11. 


2o8  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

passed  from  the  wilderness  to  cast  out  demons,  and  He 
drove  before  Him  all  the  emissaries  of  the  prince,  having 
routed  in  this  supreme  conflict  the  arch-enemy  of  the  race. 
It  is  interesting  to  notice  hovi^  few  words  He  addressed 
to  demons  afterwards,  and  that  they  were  always  words  of 
command,  and  that  the  command  He  uttered  was  always 
obeyed.  The  story  of  the  man  possessed  with  a  legion  of 
devils  as  recorded  in  Matthew,  chronicles  the  fact  that  they 
"  besought  Him,  saying.  If  Thou  cast  us  out,  send  us 
away  into  the  herd  of  swine."  Jesus  answered  them  with 
one  word  only  "  Go," '  and  immediately  they  obeyed. 
That  is  but  one  illustration  out  of  very  many.  The  same 
facts  are  patent  through  all  the  Gospel  story  subsequent  to 
the  victory  of  the  wilderness.  He  at  once  assumed  the 
position  of  authority  over  a  conquered  foe,  and  drove  him 
and  his  forces,  until  at  last  in  a  final  conflict  in  which  He 
attacked  the  strongholds  of  evil, 

"  He  hell  in  hell  laid  low, 

And  Satan's  throne  o'erthrew  ; 
Bowed  to  the  grave,  destroyed  it  so. 
And  death  by  dying  slew." 

And  yet  again  is  seen  His  relation  to  the  unfallen  prin- 
cipalities and  powers  in  the  words,  "  Angels  came  and 
ministered  unto  Him."  ^  There  is  a  beautiful  touch  of 
tenderness  here.  During  the  conflict  He  had  received  no 
help  from  these  ministers  of  love.  They  had  been  re- 
strained from  coming  to  His  aid  during  the  temptation. 
Directly  the  fallen  foe  was  driven  forth,  they  gathered 
round  in  solicitous  and  tender  service.  This  same  restraint 
and  readiness  were  manifest  later  in  the  garden  of  Geth- 
semane,  when,  the  victory  won  and  the  conflict  over,  there 
1  Matt.  8:  31,32.  '«  Matt.  4:11. 


Final 


209 


also  they  ministered  to  Him ;  and  when  soon  after  the 
Master  rebuked  Peter  for  the  rashness  of  his  action  in 
smiting  Malchus,  in  one  sentence  He  illumined  the  whole 
upper  spaces,  and  showed  how  great  hosts  of  them  were 
ready  to  succour  Him.  "Thinkest  thou  that  I  cannot  be- 
seech My  Father,  and  He  shall  even  now  send  Me  more 
than  twelve  legions  of  angels  ?  "  ^  They  were  ready  at 
His  bidding,  to  sweep  to  destruction  the  blasphemous 
rabble,  approaching  Him  to  do  Him  violence.  And  yet 
He  did  not  ask  for  them,  and  even  the  hosts  of  light  were 
held  in  restraint  by  the  infinite  love  of  God  for  man. 
Their  rendering  of  assistance  was  rejected,  when  for  man's 
redemption  the  pathway  had  to  be  trodden  in  loneliness. 
Yet  with  what  haste  they  sped  to  minister  to  Him  in  the 
moment  of  triumph,  and  with  what  exultant  gladness  at 
last  they  were  permitted  to  roll  the  stone  away,  and  watch 
the  sepulchre,  and  be  the  first  messengers  of  the  resurrec- 
tion to  men. 

Our  Lord  and  Master  is  seen  to  be  King  over  fallen  and 
unfallen  angels.  All  the  fearful  host  of  demons  obey  His 
simplest  word,  and  all  the  companies  of  the  unfallen  ones 
are  eager  to  minister  to  Him,  and  go  forth  gladly  as  they 
are  sent  to  minister  to  the  heirs  of  salvation.  The  victory 
of  Jesus  over  temptation  is  victory  over  all  the  forces  of 
hell ;  and  all  men  who,  abandoned  to  His  Lordship,  abide  in 
His  will,  must  share  in  His  triumph.  He  is,  moreover. 
Master  of  the  innumerable  company  of  the  angelic  host, 
who  have  never  fallen;  and  enthroned  above  them.  He 
gives  them  also  to  the  service  of  the  saints,  who  through 
testing  are  passing  to  triumph. 

Thus  standing  back  and  viewing  the  whole  temptation, 
two   figures   stand   out   in  clear  light.     The  enemy  of  the 

1  Matt.  26  :  53. 


210  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

race  is  seen  in  all  his  subtlety  and  terrible  power,  but  yet 
spoiled,  defeated,  crushed.  The  Redeemer  is  seen  in  all 
the  terribleness  of  conflict,  upon  the  issue  of  which  de- 
pends the  carrying  out  of  the  purpose  of  God,  and  the 
deliverance  and  uplifting  of  man  j  but  yet  victorious, 
crowned,  and  exercising  the  functions  of  the  Conqueror. 


BOOK  IV 

THE  TRANSFIGURATION 


XV.  Introductory 
XVI.  The  Master  Himself 
XVII.  The  Celestial  Visitors 
XVIII.  The  Dazed  Disciples 
XIX.  Final.     The  Things  That  Remained 


*■*■  In  the  old  days  on  Sinai 

Were  tempests  and  dark  cloudy 
And  God  was  there^  in  lightnings 

Thunder s  and  trumpet  loud : 
Upon  a  fairer  mountain^ 

Where  pure  snows  lay  congealed^ 
Stood  yesus  in  His  glory ^ 
The  very  Christ  revealed. 

*'  His  raitnent  white  and  glistering^ 

White  as  the  glistering  snow  ; 
His  form  a  blaze  of  splendour^ 

The  like  no  sun  can  show  y 
His  wondrous  eyes  resplendent 

In  ecstasy  of  prayer ; 
His  radiant  face  transfigured 

To  heaven's  own  beauty  there. 

**  Deep  shadows  are  the  edging 

Of  that  short  transient  peace^ 
For  spirit-forms  come  warning 

Of  the  fore-doomed  decease. 
Words  from  the  cloud  give  witness  — 

*  This^  My  Beloved  Son  '  ; 
The  three  look  round  in  terror^ 

And  fesus  is  alone. 

*  Soon  passed  that  scene  of  grandeur ; 

But  stedfast^  changeless^  sure^ 
Our  blest  transfiguration 

Is  promised  to  endure  ; 
The  manifested  glory 

Of  our  great  Lord  to  see 
Shall  change  us  to  His  likeness  ; 

As  He  is^  we  shall  be. 

O  vision  all  surpassing^ 

Filling  the  heavenly  height  ! 
The  Lamb^  once  slain^  transfigured 

In  the  throne-rainbow^ s  light  / 
There  for  the  endless  ages 

All  glorified  is  He^ 
And  His  eternal  glory 

Shall  ours  forever  ^^." 

• — George  RawsoN.      <«  The  Transfiguration:' 


(( 


And  after  six  days  Jesus  takcth  with  Him  Peter,  and  James,  and 
John  his  brother,  and  bringeth  them  up  into  a  high  mountain  apart : 
and  He  was  transfigured  before  them  ;  and  His  face  did  shine  as  the 
sun,  and  His  garments  became  white  as  the  light.  And  behold, 
there  appeared  unto  them  Moses  and  Elijah  talking  with  Him. 
And  Peter  answered,  and  said  unto  Jesus,  Lord,  it  is  good  for  us 
to  be  here  :  if  Thou  wilt,  I  will  make  here  three  tabernacles  ; 
one  for  Thee,  and  one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elijah.  While  he 
was  yet  speaking,  behold,  a  bright  cloud  overshadowed  them  :  and 
behold,  a  voice  out  of  the  cloud,  saying.  This  is  My  beloved  Son, 
in  Whom  1  am  well  pleased ;  hear  ye  Him.  And  when  the 
disciples  heard  it,  they  fell  on  their  face,  and  were  sore  afraid. 
And  Jesus  came  and  touched  them  and  said.  Arise,  and  be  not 
afraid.  And  lifting  up  their  eyes,  they  saw  no  one,  save  Jesus 
only. 

And  as  they  were  coming  down  from  the  mountain,  Jesus  com- 
manded them,  saying.  Tell  the  vision  to  no  man,  until  the  Son  of 
man  be  risen  from  the  dead. — Matt.  ly  :  i-p. 


And  after  six  days  Jesus  taketh  with  Him  Peter,  and  James,  and 
John,  and  bringeth  them  up  into  a  high  mountain  apart  by  them- 
selves :  and  He  was  transfigured  before  them  ;  and  His  garments 
became  glistering,  exceeding  white,  so  as  no  fuller  on  earth  can 
whiten  them.  And  there  appeared  unto  them  Elijah  with  Moses : 
and  they  were  talking  with  Jesus.  And  Peter  answereth  and  saith 
to  Jesus,  Rabbi,  it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here  :  and  let  us  make  three 
tabernacles ;  one  for  Thee,  and  one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elijah. 
For  he  knew  not  what  to  answer  ;  for  they  became  sore  afraid. 
And  there  came  a  cloud  overshadowing  them  :  and  there  came  a 
voice  out  of  the  cloud.  This  is  My  beloved  Son :  hear  ye  Him. 
And  suddenly  looking  round  about,  they  saw  no  one  any  more, 
save  Jesus  only  with  themselves. 

And  as  they  were  coming  down  from  the  mountain.  He  charged 
them  that  they  should  tell  no  man  what  things  they  had  seen,  save 
when  the  Son  of  man  should  have  risen  again  from  the  dead. 
And  they  kept  the  saying,  questioning  among  themselves  what  the 
rising  again  from  the  dead  should  mean. — Mark  g  :  2—10. 

And  it  came  to  pass  about  eight  days  after  these  sayings,  that 
He  took  with  Him  Peter  and  John  and  James,  and  went  up  into 
the  mountain   to  pray.     And  as  He  was  praying,  the  fashion  of 

213 


His  countenance  was  altered,  and  His  raiment  became  white  and 
dazzling.  And  behold,  there  talked  with  Him  two  men,  who 
were  Moses  and  Elijah ;  who  appeared  in  glory,  and  spake  of  His 
decease  which  He  was  about  to  accomplish  at  Jerusalem.  Novv 
Peter  and  they  that  were  with  Him  were  heavy  with  sleep ;  but 
when  they  were  fully  awake,  they  saw  His  glory,  and  the  two 
men  that  stood  with  Him.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  they  were 
parting  from  Him,  Peter  said  unto  Jesus,  Master,  it  is  good  for  us  to 
be  here  :  and  let  us  make  three  tabernacles ;  one  for  Thee,  and 
one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elijah  :  not  knowing  what  he  said. 
And  while  he  said  these  things,  there  came  a  cloud,  and  over- 
shadowed them  :  and  they  feared  as  they  entered  into  the  cloud. 
And  a  voice  came  out  of  the  cloud,  saying.  This  is  My  Son,  My 
chosen  :  hear  ye  Him.  And  when  the  voice  came,  Jesus  was 
found  alone.  And  they  held  their  peace,  and  told  no  man  in  those 
days  any  of  the  things  which  they  had  seen. — Luke  g  :  28-36. 


214 


XV 

INTRODUCTORY 

In  approaching  the  subject  of  the  transfiguration  it  will 
be  well  first  to  take  a  general  survey  of  the  field,  by  con- 
sidering,— first,  its  occasion ;  secondly,  its  witnesses ;  and 
thirdly,  its  purpose. 

I.  Each  evangelist  commences  his  account  of  the  trans- 
figuration with  a  suggestive  word — "  after."  Matthew 
and  Mark  say  "  After  six  days."  ^  Luke  writes  "  Eight  days 
after."  ^  There  is  here  no  real  discrepancy.  The  first 
two  count  the  intervening  days  only,  and  the  third  reckons 
also  the  two  days,  on  which  the  two  events  in  mind  oc- 
curred. This  uniformity  in  the  use  of  the  word  "  after  " 
arrests  attention,  and  the  question  is  naturally  asked,  after 
what  ?  A  study  of  the  context  will  show  that  the  refer- 
ence is  to  the  conversation  between  Peter  and  Jesus,  the 
first  part  of  which  contained  Peter's  confession,  and  our 
Lord's  commendation ;  and  the  second  part  Peter's  shrink- 
ing from  the  cross,  and  the  Master's  stern  denunciation. 

Beyond  these  events,  "  after  six  days  Jesus  taketh  with 
Him  Peter,  and  James,  and  John  his  brother,  and  bringeth 
them  up  into  a  high  mountain  apart :  and  He  was  trans- 
figured before  them."  '  The  first  meaning,  therefore,  of 
the  transfiguration  to  the  men  who  witnessed  it,  was  a  con- 
firmation of  the  truths  uttered  on  that  memorable  occasion. 
In  the  splendours  of  the  mount  the  two  facts  of  the  Mes- 
siahship  and  Saviourhood  of  the   Christ  were  confirmed. 

'  Matt.  17:1;  Mark  9:2,  »  Luke  9  :  28.  3  Matt.  17  :  I,  2. 

215 


2i6  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

They  saw  the  Messiah  in  the  glory  of  His  Person,  they 
looked  upon  Him  standing  in  the  glory  of  God,  and  con- 
versing with  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect.  They 
beheld  no  longer  the  Man  of  sorrows,  upon  Whose  face 
was  the  mark  of  a  perpetual  pain,  but  a  Man  shining  in  all 
the  splendours  of  His  own  perfect  character,  as  it  trans- 
formed and  transfigured  the  veil  of  His  flesh. 

The  mount  was  also  a  confirmation  of  the  necessity  of 
the  Cross  of  which  the  Lord  had  spoken,  and  from  which 
His  disciples  had  shrunk.  They  listened  to  the  conversa- 
tion between  Jesus,  and  Moses  and  Elijah,  and  it  was  of 
His  coming  exodus.  The  Cross,  concerning  which  Peter 
had  rebuked  his  Lord,  was  the  subject  of  conversation  in 
the  strange  and  marvellous  light  of  the  holy  mount. 

Thus  the  mount  endorsed  the  confession  of  Peter,  and 
the  teaching  of  Christ. 

There  is,  therefore,  a  distinct  connection  between  the 
transfiguration  and  the  events  immediately  preceding. 
"  After  six  days,"  but  what  happened  during  those  days  ? 
There  is  no  detailed  record  of  them.  Follow  the  clue 
carefully,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  during  the  period  there  had 
been  a  sense  of  estrangement  between  the  disciples  and  the 
Master.  1  hey  were  amazed,  afraid  to  ask  Him  questions, 
and  do  not  seem  to  have  walked  in  very  close  companion- 
ship with  Him.  He  was  going  towards  Jerusalem,  moving 
with  determination  towards  the  very  Cross  of  which  they 
were  afraid.  They,  being  afraid,  followed  at  a  distance 
reluctantly,  full  of  perplexed  wonderings.  Do  not  blame 
them.  They  had  arrived  at  the  moment  when  one  of 
their  number  had  confessed  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus,  and 
He  had  not  denied,  but  had  rather  crowned  the  confession 
with  His  blessing. 

Then,  suddenly,  by  His  foretelling  of  the  Cross,  all  that 


Introductory  2 1 7 

Messiahship  meant  to  these  men  seemed  to  have  been 
rendered  impossible  of  achievement.  The  Cross  of  shame 
loomed  ahead,  and  they  w^ere  bewildered,  they  fell  back, 
fear  possessing  their  hearts,  and  mystery  enshrouding  their 
pathway.  Those  six  days  must  have  been  among  the 
saddest  in  the  life  of  the  Master;  six  days  of  silence,  six 
days  in  which  His  loneliness  was  the  supreme  fact  in  His 
progress.  He  had  chosen  these  men,  but  there  was  not 
one  of  their  number  who  fully  followed  Him  now.  They 
loved  Him,  and  He  loved  them,  and  having  loved  them.  He 
loved  them  to  the  end;  but  the  way  to  the  end  lay  through 
the  desolate  days  in  which  He  realized,  and  they  proved, 
their  present  incapacity  for  fellowship  with  Him  in  suffer- 
ing.    He  was  moving  in  sublime  loneliness  to  His  Cross. 

When  the  six  days  had  passed.  He  called  three  of  them, 
and  leading  them  to  the  mount,  was  transfigured  before 
them.  In  that  sacred  vision  He  spoke  to  their  fear,  and 
flung  new  light  upon  the  overshadowing  mystery,  as  He  re- 
vealed the  inward  fact  of  the  glory  and  strength  of  His  Per- 
son and  character,  permitting,  for  a  moment,  that  glory  to 
shine  through  the  veil  of  His  flesh,  that  He  might  allay 
their  fear,  and  clear  away,  as  much  as  might  be,  the  cloud 
of  mystery  that  enshrouded  them. 

In  this  light  Peter  spoke  again  :  "  Lord,  it  is  good  for  us 
to  be  here :  if  Thou  wilt,  I  will  make  here  three  taber- 
nacles ;  one  for  Thee,  and  one  for  Moses,  and  one  for 
Elijah."  ^  It  was  a  sad  blunder,  and  yet  a  revelation.  "  Be 
it  far  from  Thee,  Lord,"^  he  had  said  in  sight  of  the  Cross. 
"  It  is  good  to  be  here,"  he  said  in  the  light  of  the  glory. 
The  Cross  ?  No.  The  glory  ?  Yes.  It  was  as  though 
he  had  said :  Suffering  and  passion,  and  blood  and  death, 
I  cannot  look  upon.  This  glory  is  what  I  crave  for  Thee, 
1  Matt.  17:4.  3  Matt.  i6:  22. 


2i8  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

my  Lord  and  Master.  It  was  still  the  speech  of  love,  blind 
and  blundering,  but  yet  love.  It  seemed  as  though  the 
Master  said  in  effect :  I  spoke  to  you  of  the  Cross,  and 
you  were  afraid.  I  spoke  also  of  resurrection,  and  you  did 
not  hear,  but  come  with  Me  into  a  mountain  apart,  and  in 
its  light  and  glory  My  converse  shall  be  still  of  the 
Cross. 

He  repeated  the  teaching  of  six  days  ago,  but  under  dif- 
ferent circumstances.  For  the  strengthening  of  feeble 
faith,  and  the  quieting  of  the  hearts  of  terror-stricken  men, 
He  was  transfigured  before  them. 

II.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  these  men,  Peter,  James 
and  John,  were  the  most  remarkable  in  the  apostolate. 
Peter  loved  Him,  John  He  loved,  and  James  was  the  first 
to  seal  his  testimony  with  his  blood.  Even  their  blunders 
proved  their  strength.  They  were  the  men  of  enterprise, 
men  who  wanted  thrones,  and  places  of  power,  complacent 
and  satisfied  while  the  Lord  spoke  of  keys,  desiring  to  sit 
on  His  right  hand  and  on  His  left  in  His  kingdom. 
Mistaken  ideas,  all  of  them,  and  yet  proving  capacity  for 
holding  the  keys,  and  occupying  the  throne.  What  men 
from  among  that  first  group  of  apostles  reign  to-day  as 
do  these  men  ?  James,  ever  supreme  among  the  apostles, 
as  having  been  first  of  their  number  to  receive  the  crown 
of  martyrdom.  John,  in  inspired  writing,  unveiled  the 
wonders  of  His  commandments  and  His  love.  His  light 
and  His  life ;  and  the  whole  Church,  in  its  mystic  relation- 
ship to  Christ,  is  under  the  sway  of  the  apostle  of  love. 
Peter  held  the  keys,  and  in  Pentecostal  preaching  opened 
the  door  of  the  kingdom  to  Jews  and  Gentiles,  first  at 
Jerusalem  and  then  in  the  house  of  Cornelius.  These 
were  the  men  taken  to  the  mount.     There  can  be  no  doubt 


Introductory  219 

that  these  among  the  apostles  were  the  greatest  three.  To 
them  He  had  shown  His  supreme  miracles,  and  they  subse- 
quently came  nearest  to  the  sacred  enactments  of  Gethsem- 
ane's  garden.  The  transfiguration  was  after,  and  also  be- 
fore— "after  six  days,"  but  before  Gethsemane,  flashing 
its  light  backward  and  forward  to  strengthen  their  faith  after 
the  mystery  of  the  six  days,  and  to  be  a  light  of  hope  even 
amid  the  gloom  of  the  garden. 

HI.  "  He  was  transfigured  before  them"  ^  The  whole 
emphasis  should  be  laid  upon  these  last  two  words.  It  was 
wholly  for  their  salces  that  upon  this  occasion  He  was  trans- 
figured. There  are  no  means  of  knowing,  but  perchance 
those  silent  mountain  heights,  and  the  starlit  sky  of  night, 
had  often  witnessed  such  wondrous  scenes.  Luke  declares 
that  as  He  prayed  He  was  transfigured  j  and  he,  moreover, 
tells  that  the  ostensible  purpose  of  this  journey  to  the 
mount  was  that  of  prayer.^  Who  knows  but  that  during 
those  years  of  public  ministry,  when  withdrawn  from  the 
crowd,  and  even  having  left  His  chosen  disciples  behind 
Him,  He  spent  the  hours  of  the  silence  with  God,  the  an- 
gels saw  Him  transfigured  ?  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  em- 
phasis here  is  surely  upon  the  words  "  before  them."  The 
outshining  of  this  light,  and  all  the  radiant  glory  of  the 
holy  mount,  was  for  their  sakes. 

This  vision  of  their  Master  was  a  revelation  to  them  of 
God's  thought  of  Him.  In  the  events  preceding.  He  had 
asked,  and  they  had  given,  man's  opinion.  Human  voices 
had  expressed  different  thoughts.  These  opinions  are  all 
suggestive  and  valuable,  showing  how  the  fulfillment  in  His 
Person  and  character  of  all  that  was  great  in  the  past,  had 
impressed  itself  upon  the  minds  of  different  men.  Some 
1  Matt.  17:2.  2  Luke  9  :  28,  29, 


220  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

said  He  was  John  the  Baptist,  the  stern  prophet  who  had 
dared  to  denounce  the  king.  They  had  heard  Him  in  some 
sterner  moment  of  His  preaching,  had  been  reproved  by 
Him  for  some  willful  sin,  and  they  found  John  the  Baptist 
risen  from  the  dead.  Others  said,  This  is  Elijah,  the  man 
who  came  to  bring  the  people  back  to  the  law.  Others, 
who  perchance,  had  seen  such  tears  as  He  shed  over  Jerusa- 
lem, and  heard  such  words  as  He  spoke  of  her  ruin, 
were  reminded  of  the  weeping  prophet  of  old,  who  in  his 
agony  had  cried,  "  Oh,  that  my  head  were  waters,  and  mine 
eyes  a  fountain  of  tears,  that  I  might  weep  day  and  night 
for  the  slain  of  the  daughter  of  my  people  !  "  ^  and  some 
said  He  was  Jeremiah.  Others  again  had  said,  "one  of 
the  prophets,"  being  unable  to  decide  which.  All  had  dis- 
covered the  prophetic  genius  and  power  of  speech,  and  yet 
all  fell  short  of  the  supreme  fact  that  He  was  Messiah. 
This  was  the  opinion  of  a  man,  not  resulting  from  his  own 
observation,  but  created  by  distinct  revelation,  "  Blessed  art 
thou,  Simon  Bar-Jonah  :  for  flesh  and  blood  hath  not  re- 
vealed it  unto  thee,  but  My  Father  Who  is  in  heaven."  ^ 

And  even  now  Peter  and  his  comrades  did  not  understand 
the  full  significance  of  their  own  confession,  and  it  is  as 
though  the  Master  had  said,  having  heard  the  expressed 
human  opinion  at  its  best,  "  Come  now  to  the  mount,  and 
learn  God's  thought  of  the  Christ."  That  thought  is  ex- 
pressed in  a  threefold  way,  first,  in  the  glory  streaming  from 
His  Person  ;  second,  in  the  visit  of  Moses  and  Elijah  ;  and 
third,  in  the  actual  speech  of  Deity.  The  mount  revealed 
the  sublime  fact  that  the  Divine  opinion  included,  and 
glorified  all  human  conceptions.  Moses  and  Elijah  con- 
versed with  Him,  and  withdrew.  When  they  had  departed, 
and  no  one  remained  save  Jesus  only,  then  God  said, 
>Jer.  9:  1.  2  Matt.  16:  17. 


Introductory  221 

"  Hear  ye  Him."  ^  He  is  sufficient,  all  that  other  prophets 
have  spoken  is  fulfilled  in  Him,  their  messages  have  been 
but  gleams  of  truth ;   He  is  the  Truth. 

Thus  upon  the  mount,  standing  in  the  light  and  glory  of 
the  transfigured  Christ,  they  learned  the  Divine  thought  of 
their  Master,  as  they  had  given  expression  to  the  human 
thought  six  days  before. 

There  are  certain  practical  applications  of  this  prelim- 
inary study,  which  will  prove  profitable.  God's  "  afters  " 
are  worth  the  waiting  for.  However  dark  the  "  now  "  is, 
there  will  be  light  enough  in  God's  "  after  "  to  explain  the 
darkness.  The  very  genius  of  Christianity  consists  in  liv- 
ing in  the  dark  "  now,"  with  the  hope  of  the  "  after  "  upon 
it.     Wait  ever  for 

"  Light  after  darkness,  gain  after  loss." '' 

Remember  also,  that  beyond  the  mount  lies  the  valley. 
It  may  be  that  the  experience  of  the  present  moment  finds 
expression  in  the  language  of  the  poet : 

"  I  stand  upon  the  mount  of  God, 
With  sunlight  in  my  soul ; 
I  hear  the  storms  in  vales  beneath, 
I  hear  the  thunders  roll. 

"  But  I  am  calm  with  Thee,  my  God, 
Beneath  these  glorious  skies ; 
And  to  the  height  on  which  I  stand 
No  storms  nor  clouds  can  rise."^ 

Do  not  forget,  however,  that  it  is  not  intended  that  the  fol- 
lower of  Christ  should  abide  on  the  mount.  Just  beyond 
lies  the  valley,  and  away  further  still,  out  of  sight  at  pres- 
ent, but  surely  to  be  reached,  is  the   sombre  shade  of  the 

« Matt,  17:5.  2  F.  R.  Havergal.  3  g.  B.  Bubier. 


222  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

olives  of  Gethsemane.  For  that,  this  is  preparation  ;  this 
is  a  Divine  process  of  training,  and  it  is  full  of  grace.  The 
valley  and  Gethsemane  lie  beyond  the  holy  mount.  To 
them  God  never  leads  save  by  the  way  of  the  mount.  The 
mount  forever  stands  after  the  six  days,  before  the  deepest 
darkness  and  the  severest  trial. 

It  is  also  true  that  revelation  is  according  to  capacity. 
There  are  those  to  whom  God  cannot  reveal  some  of  the 
methods  of  His  government.  Peter,  James,  and  John 
were  taken  to  the  mount,  but  eight  others  saw  no  trans- 
figuring glory.  Do  not  ask  for  the  vision  of  the  mount. 
He  takes  there  whomsoever  He  will.  The  light  of  trans- 
figuration creates  new  responsibility.  The  men  who  saw 
its  glory  were  taken  also  to  the  vision  of  Gethsemane's 
sorrow.  Let  there  be  no  asking  for  visions.  When 
transfiguration,  and  garden,  and  Cross,  and  resurrection, 
and  ascension  hours  are  passed,  the  Master  will  not  ap- 
portion His  rewards  according  to  the  number  of  visions, 
but  according  to  fidelity  to  the  opportunities  He  creates. 
Is  there  no  vision  ?  Then  let  there  be  faithfulness  with- 
out, and  after  all,  this  may  be  the  more  heroic  life.  The 
man  to  whom  God  grants  a  vision  should  find  it  easy  there- 
after to  be  heroic.  To  the  larger  company  of  apostles  and 
disciples,  no  vision  comes.  They  patiently  follow  "  until 
the  day  break,  and  the  shadows  flee  away."  ^  Ask  for  no 
vision,  O,  my  soul,  lest  its  coming  bring  also  testing  which 
God  had  not  intended  for  thee.  Take  what  He  gives,  and 
follow  in  His  steps. 

Lastly,  communion  with  God  issues  ever  in  transfigured 
life.  It  was  when  He  was  praying  that  He  was  trans- 
figured. When  the  disciples  pray  as  He  prayed,  they  also 
will  be  transfigured  as  He  was  transfigured.     This  will  not 

'Cant.  2:  17. 


Introductory  223 

be  until  salvation  is  completed.  While  there  lurk  within 
possibilities  of  unbelief,  fellowship  is  not  perfected,  and 
final  transfiguration  cannot  be.  And  yet,  the  measure  of 
fellowship  is  the  measure  of  transfiguration,  even  here  and 
now.  How  often,  even  amid  the  shadows  of  the  little 
while,  the  faces  of  the  saints  are  seen  lit  with  the  light  of 
the  inward  glory.  Those  who,  indeed,  would  shine  amid 
the  darkness  of  the  world,  must  be  transformed  and  trans- 
figured by  union  with  God.  May  the  communion  of  the 
saints  with  the  Son  be  such,  that,  in  some  measure,  upon 
all  of  them  may  rest  the  light  and  glory  of  the  holy  mount. 


XVI 

THE  MASTER  HIMSELF 

Having  thus  taken  a  general  survey  of  the  occasion,  the 
company,  and  the  purpose  of  the  transfiguration,  it  is  pos- 
sible to  pass  to  a  more  detailed  examination  of  its  chief 
features.  It  is  the  Lord  Himself  upon  Whom  the  atten- 
tion is  first  fixed,  and  that  in  regard,  first,  to  the  fact  of 
His  transfiguration,  and  secondly,  to  the  place  it  occupied 
in  His  life  and  mission.  In  each  of  these  separate  studies 
the  subjects  will  overlap.  It  is  impossible  to  consider  the 
Master  without  having  also  to  look  both  at  the  disciples 
and  the  celestial  visitors,  just  as  it  will  be  impossible  to 
consider  either  of  these  alone.  All  must  be  seen  in  con- 
nection with  each,  yet  each  demands  special  attention,  and 
such  attention  is  now  directed  to  the  principal  Person  in 
the  glorious  scene. 

I.  The  books  of  Daniel  and  Revelation  record  visions  of 
a  glorious  One  which  are  remarkable  for  their  similarity  to 
the  manifestation  on  the  holy  mount.  Very  little  is  said 
in  Scripture  concerning  the  glory  and  majesty  of  Christ. 
A  stranger  reading  the  Bible,  especially  the  New  Testa- 
ment, would  be  impressed  far  more  with  the  majesty  of  the 
Messiah's  character,  and  the  glory  of  His  moral  qualities, 
than  in  any  other  way.  This,  undoubtedly,  was  part  of 
the  Divine  plan,  for  the  search  of  men  was  rather  for 
tokens  of  material  glory,  than  for  signs  of  moral  excel- 
lence. His  coming  was  principally  for  the  display  of  the 
latter ;  and  such  signs,  as   might  have  appealed  to  the  de- 

224 


The  Master  Himself  22^ 

sire  of  the  men  whose  only  conception  of  glory  had  come 
to  be  that  of  manifested  splendour,  were  denied.  The 
word  of  the  prophet  spoken  in  another  connection  had  a 
supreme  fulfillment  in  the  Person  of  Jesus,  "There  was 
the  hiding  of  His  power."  ^  Consequently,  that  which 
arrests  a  person  in  the  study  of  the  life  of  Christ,  is  not 
outward  magnificence,  not  pageantry  or  pomp,  but  some- 
thing more  wonderful,  and  without  which  mere  outward 
pageantry  and  pomp  would  be  nothing  worth,  even  His 
moral  glory.  No  man  can  study  the  life  of  this  remark- 
able One,  Who  passed  through  the  ways  of  men  devoid 
of  attributes  that  attracted  the  attention  of  the  mob,  with- 
out finding  that  the  beauty  of  His  character  lays  hold  upon 
the  inmost  spirit,  and  commands  its  admiration.  To  see 
the  Christ  in  the  glories  of  His  character,  is  to  be  prostrate 
before  Him  in  adoration. 

Yet  while  the  glory  of  His  power  is  hidden,  and  the 
radiant  splendours  of  His  Person  are  veiled,  occasionally 
during  His  sojourn  upon  the  earth,  they  flashed  into 
prominence.  Here  upon  the  mount,  before  the  eyes  of 
the  disciples,  there  flamed  forth  the  magnificence  and  the 
majesty  of  Him,  Who,  in  order  that  the  weakest  and  most 
trembling  might  hold  intercourse  with  Him,  had  veiled 
these  splendours  behind  the  human. 

What  an  outshining  it  was  may  be  gathered  from  the 
accounts  of  the  evangelists  : 

"  He  was  transfigured  before  them ;  and  His  face  did 
shine  as  the  sun,  and  His  garments  became  white  as  the 
light."  2 

"  And  He  was  transfigured  before  them  :  and  His  gar- 
ments became  glistering,  exceeding  white ;  so  as  no  fuller 
on  earth  can  whiten  them."  ^ 

1  Hab.  3:4.  '  Matt  17:2.  3  Mark  9  :  2,  3. 


226  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

"And  as  He  was  praying,  the  fashion  of  His  counte- 
nance was  altered,  and  His  raiment  became  white  and 
dazzling."  ^ 

The  accounts  vary  somewhat,  and  this  is  doubtless  due 
to  the  different  impression  made  upon  the  minds  of  the 
men  who  beheld  the  vision,  and  told  the  story  to  the  evan- 
gelists.    Yet  in  the  differences  there  is  unity. 

Matthew  describes  the  change  that  passed  over  Him  as 
one  of  light :  "  His  face  did  shine  as  the  sun,  and  His 
garments  became  white  as  the  light." 

Mark  gives  the  impression  of  snow  :  "  His  garments  be- 
came glistering,  exceeding  white."  The  word  "glister- 
ing" suggests  the  sparkling  of  the  snow  as  light  falls 
upon  it. 

Luke  writes,  "  His  raiment  became  white  and  dazzling," 
the  word  "  dazzling  "  suggesting  the  blinding  light  of  the 
lightning's  flash. 

That  which  is  common  to  all  the  descriptions  is  the 
thought  of  whiteness  and  of  light.  "  White  as  light " 
says  Matthew's  story.  "White  as  snow  glistering  in  the 
light  ".is  Mark's  utterance.  Not  as  light  merely,  not  even 
as  snow  glistering  upon  the  mountain  heights,  but  as  light- 
ning flashing  forth  in  glory,  dazzling  in  its  brilliancy,  is 
Luke's  account. 

'  The  one  fact  of  white  light  is  here  declared  in  threefold 
statement — the  beneficence  of  light,  the  purity  of  snow, 
the  majesty  of  lightning. 
\  With  what  overwhelming  awe  must  these  men  have 
looked  upon  their  Master !  They  had  become  familiar 
with  Him  as  with  a  Man  sharing  their  nature — His  face 
lined  with  the  furrows  of  care.  His  visage  sorrowfully 
marred,  beautiful,  yea,  passing  beautiful,  and  yet  always 
•  Luke  9  :  29. 


The  Master  Himself  227 

overshadowed  with  the  signs  of  sorrow.  As  they  looked 
up  from  their  bewildered  sleep  in  the  darkness  of  the 
night,  they  beheld  Him  white  as  the  light,  His  raiment 
glistering  as  with  the  radiance  of  the  snow-capped  peaks 
behind  Him,  His  whole  Person  standing  out  in  clear  relief 
against  the  dark  background,  like  lightning  flashing  upon 
the  bosom  of  the  night.  Long  years  after,  Peter,  writing 
of  the  vision,  said,  "  We  were  eye-witnesses  of  His 
majesty."  ^  The  word  "  majesty  "  occurs  three  times  only 
in  Scripture.  Once  it  is  translated  "  mighty  power,"  once 
'■'■  magnificence,"  and  once  "  majesty."  The  thought  it 
suggests  is  that  of  splendour,  of  overwhelming  beauty  and 
glory,  and  that  which  arrests  and  subdues  the  mind  to  the 
point  of  adoration  and  worship  ;  and  Peter,  looking  back 
to  the  splendours  of  that  night  scene,  wrote,  "  We  were 
eye-witnesses  of  His  majesty." 

This  glory  was  not  the  light  of  heaven  falling  upon 
Him  from  above.  Nor  was  it  a  merely  reflected  radiance 
which  resulted  from  communion.  When  Moses  descended 
from  the  mount,  his  face  shone  so  that  men  could  not  look 
upon  it.  That  glory  was  the  reflection  of  the  light  in 
which  he  had  sojourned  in  the  solemn  days  of  his  absence, 
and  even  that  was  so  brilliant  that  men  could  not  look  upon 
it,  and  he  had  to  veil  his  face.  Later  on,  when  the  first 
martyr  was  about  to  pass  from  earth  to  heaven,  upon  his 
face  there  rested  a  glory  so  that  when  men  looked  upon 
him  "  they  saw  his  face  as  it  had  been  the  face  of  an 
angel,"  ^  But  these  are  very  different  matters  from  the 
radiant  splendour  of  the  Master  on  the  mount.  That  was 
the  glory  of  His  own  face,  of  His  own  Person,  shining 
through  the  veil  that  had  hidden  it,  until  the  very  raiment 
of  His  humanity  sparkled  and  glistened  and  flashed  with 
>  2  Peter  l  :  i6.  »  Acts  6 :  15. 


228  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

the  splendour  of  light  and  snow  and  lightning.  The 
transfiguration  was  effected,  not  by  glory  falling  on  Him, 
but  by  inherent  glory  flashing  forth.  To  depict  that  splen- 
dour is  impossible  with  brush,  or  pencil,  or  pen.  To-day 
it  may  only  be  seen  partially,  when  in  some  place  of  silent 
solitude,  the  spirit  of  man  communes  with  the  Christ,  under 
the  immediate  illumination  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

II.  The  transfiguration  had  a  close  connection  with  the 
human  life  and  the  Divine  mission  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 
Indeed,  it  may  be  said  to  have  been  the  connecting  link 
between  the  two.  It  carried  the  one  over  into  the  other. 
It  was  the  consummation  of  ideal  human  life,  and  the  be- 
ginning of  the  pathway  that  ended  in  the  accomplishment 
of  the  purposes  of  God  in  the  redemption  of  fallen  human 
nature. 

It  is  astonishing  to  find  how  many  there  are  who  look 
upon  the  transfiguration  as  an  experience  granted  to  Christ 
for  the  confirmation  of  His  own  consecration,  and  how 
large  a  number  of  writers  on  the  subject  say  that  He  was 
led  to  the  mountain,  in  order  that  His  own  faith  might  be 
confirmed,  and  His  devotion  made  more  complete  in  view 
of  the  death  that  lay  before  Him.  Without  doubt  the  ex- 
perience was  of  value  in  His  human  life,  in  the  way  of  a 
satisfaction  and  strength.  But  to  imagine  that  He  needed 
such  an  experience  to  confirm  His  consecration,  is  to  mis- 
understand the  whole  of  His  life  prior  to  this  period.  The 
consecration  of  the  Christ  to  His  Father's  will  and  work, 
was  settled  before  He  was  born  a  Man.  In  that  Voice 
which  comes  out  of  the  past,  and  Whose  words  are  written 
in  the  volume  of  the  Book,  "  Lo,  I  am  come.  .  .  . 
To  do  Thy  will,  O  God,"  ^  is  the  declaration  of  a  perfect 
»Heb.   lo:  7. 


The  Master  Himself  229 

and  complete  consecration,  from  which  there  was  never  the 
swerving  of  a  hair's  breadth,  or  the  drawing  back  of  a 
single  moment.  He  needed  no  vision  of  glory  such  as  this 
to  confirm  Him  in  His  consecration  to  His  Father's  will. 
The  vision  of  the  Father's  face  was  never  clouded  for  a 
moment  to  Him  until  the  dark  hour  on  Calvary's  Cross, 
which  as  yet  was  not  reached.  So  perpetual  was  His  sense 
of  the  Divine  presence  that  in  conversation  with  Nico- 
demus,  He  spoke  of  Himself  as  "the  Son  of  Man,  Who 
is  in  heaven."  ^  No,  this  was  not  something  given  as  an 
encouragement  to  devotion.  It  was  part  of  the  perfect 
whole. 

The  transfiguration  of  Jesus  was  the  consummation  of) 
His  .human  life,  the  natural  issue  of  all  that  had  preceded 
it.  Born  into  the  world  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  He  had  lived 
a  life  linked  to,  and  yet  separate  from,  humanity  :  linked  to"^ 
it  in  all  the  essential  facts  of  its  nature,  separate  from  it 
in  its  sin,  both  as  a  principle  and  activity.  He  had  taken 
His  way,  from  His  first  outlook  upon  life  as  a  human  being 
— a  babe  in  His  mother's  arms — through  the  years  of 
childhood  and  growth,  through  all  temptation  and  testing 
of  manhood,  and  through  the  severer  temptation  of  public 
ministry  ;  and  here,  at  last,  that  humanity,  perfect  in  cre- 
ation, perfect  through  probation,  was  perfected  in  glory. 
The  life  of  Jesus  was  bound  to  reach  this  point  of  trans- 
figuration.    It  could  do  no  other. 

In  Jesus  of  Nazareth  there  was  the  perfect  unfolding  be-\ 
fore  heaven  and  before  men,  of  the  Divine  intention  as  to 
the  process  of  human  life.  Beginning  in  weakness  and 
limitation,  passing  through  difficulties  and  temptation,  gain- 
ing perpetual  victory  over  temptation  by  abiding  only,  at 
all  times,  and  under  all  circumstances,  in  the  will  of  God, 
'John  3:  13.  ^ 


230  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

at  last,  all  the  testing  being  ended,  the  life  passed  into  the 
presence  of  God  Himself,  and  into  the  light  of  heaven, 
not  through  the  gate  of  death,  but  through  the  painless  and 
glorious  process  of  transfiguration.  The  transfiguration 
of  Jesus  was  the  outcome  of  His  unceasing  victory  in 
every  hour  of  temptation.  The  garrison  of  His  life  had 
been  kept  against  every  attack  of  the  foe  ;  no  room  had 
been  found  in  any  avenue  of  His  being,  nor  in  all  the 
circle  of  His  manhood,  for  anything  contrary  to  the  vi'ill 
of  God.  His  life  was  a  perfect  harmony,  and  the  un- 
ceasing burden  of  its  music  was  the  goodness,  and  perfect- 
ness,  and  acceptableness  of  the  will  of  God.  He  had  ever 
done  the  things  that  pleased  God;  He  had  thought  the 
thoughts  of  God,  and  spoken  words,  and  done  deeds  under 
the  inspiration  and  impulse  of  communion  with  God ;  and 
at  last,  having  triumphed  over  every  form  of  temptation. 
He  passed,  not  into  the  darkness  of  death,  but  into  a  larger 
life ;  and  as  He  was  transfigured.  He  was  filled  with  the 
answer  of  God  to  the  perfection  of  His  life — an  answer 
that  came,  not  as  a  glory  from  without,  but  as  the  perfect 
blossoming  of  that  which  He  had  always  enfolded  in  His 
human  nature. 

Reverently  take  a  flower  as  an  illustration  of  the  process, 
watching  it  in  its  progress  from  seedling  to  perfect  blossom- 
ing. The  blossom  rested  in  the  seed  in  potentiality  and 
possibility.  Take  a  seed  and  hold  it  in  the  hand,  strange 
little  seed,  without  beauty,  the  very  embodiment  of  weak- 
ness. But  within  that  husk  in  which  the  human  eye  de- 
tects no  line  of  beauty  or  grace,  no  gleam  or  flash  of 
glory,  there  lie  the  gorgeous  colours  and  magnificent  flower 
itself.  From  that  seed,  through  processes  of  law,  plant 
and  bud  proceed,  until  at  last  the  perfect  blossom  is  formed. 
f  God's  humanity  has  blossomed  once  in  the  course  of  the 


The  Master  Himself  231 

ages,  and  that  transfigured  Man  upon  the  holy  mount,  flash- 
ing in  the  splendour  of  a  light  like  the  sun,  glistering  with 
the  glory  of  a  whiteness  like  that  of  the  snow,  and  flam- 
ing with  the  magnificent  beauty  of  the  lightning  which 
flashes  its  radiance  upon  the  darkness,  that  was  God's  per- 
fect Man.  That  was  the  realization  of  the  thought  that 
was  in  the  mind  of  God  when  He  said,  "  Let  Us  makey^ 
man  in  Our  image." 

The  mount  of  transfiguration  was  the  consummation  of 
the  life  of  Jesus,  and  if  He  had  not  been  in  the  world  for 
other  purposes,  if  He  had  not  been  here  because  He  loved 
man,  if  He  had  not  been  here  in  order  to  win  life  out  of 
the  deep  dense  darkness  of  human  sin  and  death.  He 
might  have  passed  back  with  Moses  and  Elijah  to  the 
heights  of  the  glory  of  God— God's  Man,  having  won 
His  way  to  heaven  by  the  perfection  of  His  life.  Such 
then  is  the  place  of  the  transfiguration  in  the  life  of  Jesus. 

With  regard  to  His  mission,  the  transfiguration  was  thA^ 
prelude  to  His  death.  It  was  the  crowning  of  the  first 
part  of  His  mission,  that  of  realizing  perfect  life.  Be- 
cause of  this  crowning.  He  was  now  able  to  pass  to  the 
second  part  of  His  mission,  that  of  atoning  death.  It  will 
at  once  be  seen  how  closely  united  these  things  are.  The 
death  of  Christ  would  have  been  of  no  avail  for  the  re- 
demption of  the  world,  had  it  not  been  preceded  by  His 
perfect  life.  To  say  this  is  not  for  one  single  moment 
to  undervalue  the  death  of  Christ.  Had  the  life  not  been 
perfect,  the  death  would  have  been  nothing  more  than  the 
tragic  end  of  an  ordinary  fife,  ordinary  because  conformed 
to  the  tendency  and  habit  of  the  centuries,  that  of  sin. 
But  blessed  be  God,  there  had  been  no  such  conformity  in 
the  years  that  had  preceded  the  Cross.  Amid  the  self- 
idolatry   of  all   the  race.   He   alone  had   stood  erect,  and 


232  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

therefore  His  death  became  the  very  door  of  life  for  a  lost 
race,  because  of  the  infinite  value  of  the  life  that  had  pre- 
ceded it.  No  other  man  could  be  found  as  ransom  for  his 
brother,  for  every  other  man  in  coming  to  death  had  noth- 
ing in  life  that  made  death  of  value.  When  God  had 
found  none  that  could  by  any  means  ransom  his  brother,  it 
was  not  that  He  had  not  been  able  to  find  one  man  willing 
to  die  for  another.  Men  have  always  been  found  ready  to 
die  for  others.  The  old  story  of  how  a  soldier  found  a 
comrade  ready  to  don  his  uniform,  and  take  his  place  in  the 
ranks,  and  answer  "  Here  "  when  his  name  was  called,  is 
well-known.  But  on  the  higher  plane,  no  man  can  an- 
swer "  Here  "  for  his  brother,  for  each  must  answer  for 
himself,  and  every  man's  life  is  in  itself  imperfect,  and  the 
life  of  one  cannot  avail  for  that  of  another,  for  that  "  all 
have  sinned  and  fall  short  of  the  glory  of  God."  ^  Men 
have  in  all  ages  been  willing  to  die  for  others.  Savonarola 
died  for  Florence,  but  he  could  not  redeem  Florence  by  his 
death.     George  Whitfield  died  for  England,  but  he  could 

/fiot  redeem  the  country  by  his  dying.  But  this  Man  on 
the  mount  finished  His  life,  wrought  it  out  to  absolute  per- 
fection, crowning  it  with  the  glory  of  heaven  in  the  sight 
of  men  and  God.  Having  done  this  He  took  that  life — 
perfect,  spotless,  entire — and  poured  it  out  in  death.  His 
death  thereby  became  more  than  the  end  of  life.  It  be- 
came the  mystery  of  Atonement,  the  darkness  through 
which  the  eternal  morning  broke,  the  death  through 
which  life  as  a  river  passed  through  the  ages,  for  every 
man,  who   forsaking   sin,  commits   himself  to   the    Perfect 

\One  Who  died  and  lives. 

The  transfiguration  divided  the  ways.     Amid  the  glory 
of  that  resplendent  hour,  the  first  part  of  His  mission  was 
>  Rom.  3  :  23. 


The  Master  Himself  233 

\ 
ended.  There  was  ushered  in  the  second  part,  as  He  de- 
scended from  the  mountain,  turning  His  bacic  for  the  sec- 
ond time  upon  the  light  of  heaven,  and  taking  His  way  to 
the  Cross,  passed  into  the  darkness  of  death.  Follow  care- 
fully the  life  of  Jesus  from  that  mount  to  the  green  hill 
without  the  city  wall.  The  one  thought  in  His  mind  was 
that  of  His  death,  and  of  His  Cross.  May  it  not  be  said 
that  after  the  mount  He  was  eager  for  death  ?  There  was 
no  drawing  back,  there  was  no  flinching.  He  set  His  face 
towards  Jerusalem,  and  it  almost  seems  as  though  He  were 
impatient  of  delay.  With  straight  undeviating  course.  He 
passed  from  the  mount  of  transfiguration  to  the  Cross. 
Death  was  the  goal,  the  Cross  the  throne,  the  passion-bap- 
tism the  loosening  of  prison  bonds,  the  darkness  of  Calvary 
the  prelude  of  the  dawn  of  the  age  for  which  He  longed. 
So  the  transfiguration  came  into  the  life  of  Jesus  as  the 
crowning  of  His  humanity,  and  therefore  His  preparation, 
for  the  death  by  which  man  is  redeemed. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  well  to  glance  at  the  compan-  \ 
ions  and  the  converse  of  the  mount  as  they  affected  Him. 
His  disciples  were  dazed,  half  asleep,  not  with  the  sleep  of 
carelessness,  but  with  that  overpowering  that  follows  the 
vision  of  glory.  As  He  stood  in  the  glory  of  that  crown- 
ing moment,  these  men  spoke  to  His  heart,  by  their  very 
blindness  and  blundering,  of  the  incompleteness  of  His 
work.  The  words  of  Peter  and  the  needs  of  these  men 
were  two  different  things.  Said  the  words  of  Peter,  "  Let 
us  stay  here."  Said  the  need  of  the  men,  even  expressed 
in  the  blunder  of  Peter's  prayer.  Stay  not  here,  but  pass 
to  the  Cross.  In  the  light  of  the  mount  Jesus  looked 
upon  these  men,  and  heard  the  cry  they  themselves  did  not 
understand,  their  cry  for  the  Atonement  of  His  death,  and 
the  light  that  should  follow  the  darkness  of  His  passion. 


\ 


234  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Then,  again,  Moses  and  Elijah,  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect.  They  talked  with  Him  of  His  Cross.  In 
this  there  is  deep  significance.  What  they  said  to  Him,  or 
He  to  them,  concerning  that  Cross  is  not  chronicled,  but 
may  it  not  have  been  that  as  He  looked  at  them  He  saw 
again  the  necessity  for  His  Cross  ?  Did  He  not  know  that 
the  perfecting  of  the  just  had  been  through  the  faith  they 
had  reposed  in  the  purpose  of  God  ?  And  did  He  not 
know  that  the  purpose,  in  which  He  had  had  fellowship, 
was  that  of  redemption  by  blood  ?  Did  not  these  men  say 
to  Him  by  their  very  presence.  Heaven  as  well  as  earth 
waits  Thy  Cross,  and  unless  Thou  dost  pass  from  the 
mount  of  crowning  to  the  mount  of  crucifixion,  heaven 
must  be  unpeopled,  for  we  are  of  the  company  of  those 
who  have  died  in  faith  looking  for  Shiloh,  our  Desire  and 
our  Redeemer.  We  wait  amid  the  splendours  of  the  upper 
world,  and  all  is  lost  to  us  if  Thy  work  of  redemption  be 
unfinished  ? 

With  reverent  daring  follow  the  thought  to  its  issue. 
Had  He,  the  crowned  and  perfected  Man,  passed  upward 
into  light,  heaven  would  have  been  unpeopled,  and  in  its 
splendour  there  would  have  been  one  only  Man.  The 
plea  of  heaven  and  earth  in  the  ears  of  Christ  was  a  great 
cry  for  the  deeper  work,  that  lay  as  yet  beyond  Him. 
Earth  with  no  language  but  a  cry,  which  itself  did  not  un- 
derstand, was  asking  for  the  Cross.  Heaven  in  its  glory 
of  perfected  vision  was  looking  for  the  same ;  and  because 
He  willed  one  will  with  God,  He  left  the  glory  of  the 
mount,  and  with  resolute  step  trod  the  way  to  Calvary;  and 
from  the  darkness  that  overwhelmed  Him  has  broken  a 
light,  that  falls  in  radiance  of  hope  and  certainty  upon  the 
ruined  race. 


XVII 
THE  CELESTIAL  VISITORS 

Next  to  the  actual  transfiguration  of  the  Master,  perhaps 
the  most  interesting  fact  of  these  hours  of  glory  on  the  holy 
mount  was  the  presence  there  of  Moses  and  Elijah,  two  of 
the  most  remarkable  and  prominent  figures  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament economy.  They  were  among  the  number  of  those 
of  whom  the  writer  of  the  letter  to  the  Hebrews  said, 
"  These  all  died  in  faith."  ^  Their  presence  in  the  heavens 
was  due  to  their  faith  in  the  promises  of  God,  promises 
which  were  to  find  their  fulfillment  in  Jesus.  On  the 
transfiguring  mount  He  had  reached  a  crisis  in  the  process 
of  the  work,  and  they  came  to  greet  Him  in  the  moment 
of  triumph,  and  to  speak  with  Him  of  the  work  yet  remain- 
ing to  be  done. 

By  their  conversation  with  Him  they  revealed  the  inter- 
est of  the  dwellers  in  heaven  in  His  approaching  work,  for 
they  talked  with  Him  of  the  exodus  which  He  was  about 
to  accomplish.  To  look  at  them,  listen  to  their  conversa- 
tion, and  consider  the  thoughts  suggested  by  their  presence, 
is  the  purpose  of  the  present  study. 

First,  look  at  the  men,  Moses  and  Elijah  ;  secondly, 
notice  the  significance  of  their  presence  and  passing,  the 
fact  that  they  came,  and  the  fact  that  they  disappeared  ; 
and  thirdly,  notice  the  message  they  inferentially  brought 
concerning  the  condition  of  those  who  have  departed  this 
life  in  the  faith  and  fear  of  God. 

•  Heb.  II  :  13. 
235 


236  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

I.  Moses  and  Elijah — Moses,  the  heroic  law-giver  of  the 
people  ;  Elijah,  the  lion-hearted  prophet  of  God.  Moses, 
the  founder  of  the  economy  in  the  midst  of  which  Christ 
carried  on  His  earthly  mission  up  to  the  point  of  His  re- 
jection ;  Elijah,  the  reformer,  the  messenger  of  heaven  to  a 
decadent  age,  to  a  people  who  were  heirs  of  the  oracles, 
and  yet  were  disobedient  to  them,  to  a  people  of  whom  it 
could  be  said,  "  They  feared  Jehovah,  and  served  their 
own  gods,"  ^  to  a  people  who  very  largely  were  given  over 
to  the  worship  of  Baal,  while  still  professing  to  have  cove- 
nant relations  with  Jehovah. 

Moses  had  received  the  law,  and  given  it  to  the  people. 
Elijah  had  called  the  people  back  to  the  law.  They  were 
the  two  most  remarkable  figures  in  the  whole  of  the  Mosaic 
economy,  the  founder  and  the  reformer,  the  law-giver  and 
the  vindicator  of  its  authority,  who  called  the  nation  to 
return  to  its  allegiance  ;  men  who  both  had  led  the  people 
in  some  great  Divine  movement,  the  one  initiating  a  new 
order  of  things  in  the  world,  the  other  repeating  the  prin- 
ciples upon  which  that  order  was  based,  in  the  days  when 
the  chosen  nation  had  become  disobedient. 

Yet  from  what  different  experiences  had  they  come  to 
the  holy  mount  ?  This  was  Moses'  first  visit  to  Palestine. 
Never  before  had  he  stood  in  the  land  of  promise.  He 
had  seen  it  from  afar  at  the  close  of  his  work,  and  now  he 
had  come  to  stand  — 

"  With  glory  wrapped  around 

On  the  hills  he  never  trod, 
And  speak  of  the  strife  which  won  our  life, 

With  th'  Incarnate  Son  of  God."  * 

If  it  is  possible  in  any  measure  to  appreciate  the  feelings 
*  2  Kings  17  :  33.  "  Mrs.  Alexander. 


The  Celestial  Visitors  237 

of  those  who  dwell  in  the  light  of  heaven,  by  those  of  the 
dwellers  on  earth,  one  can  imagine  with  what  keen 
interest  Moses  stood  upon  that  holy  mount.  He  had  seen 
it  from  afar,  had  led  the  people  almost  to  the  verge 
of  possession,  and  then  had  died  in  the  land  of  Moab,  and 
received  the  high  and  holy  honour  of  burial  by  God. 
Centuries  had  passed,  and  at  last  he  stood  within  the  land, 
not  having  won  his  way  thereinto  by  the  law  as  given 
to  him  on  Sinai,  but  by  the  infinite  grace  of  God  as  mani- 
fested in  the  Person  of  His  Son,  with  Whom  he  now  held 
converse. 

Elijah's  experience  was  very  different.  In  all  proba- 
bility he  was  familiar  with  every  part  of  the  holy  land. 
He  had  moved  across  it,  founding  the  schools  of  the 
prophets,  and  endeavouring  therein  to  prepare  men  to 
carry  on  his  ministry  when  he  had  departed.  He  must  have 
loved  the  land  with  a  great  love,  wherein  once  he  had  stood 
— as  he  wrongfully  thought — the  only  man  loyal  to  God. 

Now  he  was  back  in  the  land  again,  but  under  such 
different  circumstances.  He  who  did  not  die — for  the 
chariots  and  horses  of  fire  had  separated  him  from  Elisha, 
and  the  whirlwind  had  caught  him  to  the  saints'  abode — 
had  returned  to  the  earth  to  talk  of  the  one  and  only  death 
with  the  Son  of  God. 

n.  The  significance  of  their  presence  and  passing, 
suggested  by  these  facts  of  their  personality,  is  of  deep  in- 
terest. The  religion  in  which  they  were  so  deeply  inter- 
ested was  about  to  be  changed,  not  destroyed.  The 
transfiguration  of  Jesus  was  symbolic  of  that  which  was 
taking  place,  through  His  presence  and  mission,  in  that 
old  economy  of  which  one  of  these  men  was  the  founder, 
and  the  other  the  restorer. 


238  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  speak  of  the  old  form  of 
religion,  for  if  one  speaks  of  it  as  Judaism,  the  mind 
of  the  believer  associates  it  with  the  thought  of  bondage. 
There  are  many  words  which  have  a  double  meaning,  and 
care  must  be  taken  to  distinguish  which  meaning  is 
intended,  whenever  the  word  is  used.  The  word  Judaism, 
used  in  reference  to  a  system  of  bondage  to  form  and  cere- 
mony, ever  refers  to  the  yoke  with  which  the  saints  are  not 
again  to  be  entangled.  Yet  the  very  heart  and  soul 
of  Judaism  is  the  heart  and  soul  of  Christianity.  It 
was  the  religion  of  the  one  God,  the  religion  that  insisted 
upon  the  Divine  right  to  govern  human  life,  and  per- 
petually taught  the  truth  of  the  nearness  of  God  to 
the  affairs  of  men.  All  that  abides  until  this  hour.  The 
old  forms  and  symbols  and  signs  were  perishing ;  and 
the  old  economy  which  Moses  had  founded,  and  to  which 
Elijah  had  recalled  the  people,  so  far  as  it  was  outward, 
material,  and  temporal,  was  passing  away.  But  the  heart 
and  soul  of  it  remained,  and  was  rediscovered  in  the 
mission  of  Christ.  These  men  in  the  past  had  been  great 
and  powerful,  because  they  had  understood  the  spirit  un- 
derlying the  letter,  and  in  converse  with  Jesus  upon 
the  mount  they  knew  that  nothing  was  passing  away 
which  was  of  value. 

Moses  stood  upon  that  mount  of  glory  the  representa- 
tive of  the  law.  Elijah  there  represented  prophecy. 
Moses  for  the  law,  with  its  requirements,  its  provisions, 
and  its  shadow  of  sacrifice.  Elijah  for  prophecy, — not 
foretelling  merely,  but  forthtelling^ — that  wonderful  gift  be- 
stowed upon  various  men  among  the  ancient  people,  and 
continued  at  intervals  in  unbroken  succession,  until  it 
ceased  with  Malachi. 

Moses'    presence    signified    that    in  Jesus  the  shadows 


The  Celestial  Visitors  239 

of  the  law  were  all  fulfilled  and  now  withdrawn.  In 
Jerusalem  men  were  still  fighting,  not  merely  for  the 
law  of  Moses,  but  for  the  traditions  of  the  elders,  and 
priests  and  leaders  were  still  arguing  about  the  tithe  of 
mint  and  cummin,  while  here  upon  the  mount  was  the 
great  law-giver  himself,  by  his  presence  acknowledging 
that  this  glorified  One,  Who  should  presently  be  crucified 
in  the  name  of  the  law,  did  in  Himself  gather  up  all  that 
was  hinted  at,  suggested,  included  in  the  economy  of  the 
past. 

The  law,  with  its  commands,  its  forbiddings,  was 
fulfilled  in  the  Person  of  Jesus ;  and  the  law-giver  Moses, 
by  the  will  of  God  had  left  the  heavenly  places  to  greet 
upon  the  mount  of  transfiguration  the  One,  Who  in  His 
own  Person,  had  magnified  the  law,  and  made  it  honour- 
able. 

So  also  with  Elijah.  He  had  spoken  the  word  of  God. 
From  place  to  place  he  had  journeyed,  speaking  to  kings 
in  their  corruption,  to  courts  in  their  degradation,  and  to 
individuals  in  their  need,  that  one  unceasing  word,  "Thus 
saith  Jehovah."  ^  He  had  certainly  been  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  men  in  the  history  of  the  nation  from  the 
prophetic  standpoint.  God  had  spoken  in  times  past 
by  divers  portions  in  the  prophets,  but  by  no  man  had 
He  said  more  to  the  nation  than  by  Elijah. 

And  now  he  stood  upon  the  mount  in  converse  with 
One  Who  had  said  to  His  disciples,  "I  am  the  truth,"  ^ 
and  concerning  Whom  Peter,  on  a  subsequent  occasion, 
speaking  under  the  inspiration  of  the  Spirit,  said,  "  To 
Him  bear  all  the  prophets  witness."^  Every  word  that 
had  passed  the  lips  of  Elijah  in  the  olden  days  had  been 
but  the  spelling  out  in  simple  syllable  and  speech,  of  that 
'  I  Kings  21 :  19.  '  John  14  :  6.  3  Acts  10  ;  43. 


240  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

which  was  embodied  in  the  Person  of  Christ ;  and  he  stood 
now  upon  the  mount  to  acknowledge,  that  in  this  trans- 
figured One,  all  the  speech  of  heaven  begins  and  ends, 
that  in  Him  every  prophecy  of  the  past  is  fulfilled,  and 
that  the  prophet  of  the  days  to  come,  will  gather  from  this 
Man  and  His  teaching,  his  inspiration  and  his  power. 

They  "  spake  of  His  exodus,"  ^  of  His  going  out.  The 
word  here  unfortunately  translated  "  decease "  signifies 
infinitely  more  than  our  Lord's  death.  It  includes  every- 
thing that  was  necessarily  bound  up  in  the  thought  of 
departure — His  death.  His  resurrection.  His  ascension. 
His  death  was  the  first  fact,  but  because  "  it  was  not 
possible  that  He  should  be  holden  of  it,"  ^  resurrection  was 
the  necessary  sequence,  and  if  resurrection,  having  tri- 
umphed over  death,  then  ascension  to  the  heavenly  places. 

How  much  the  word  meant  to  these  men  !  How 
familiar  "  exodus  "  must  have  been  to  Moses,  carrying  his 
memory  back  to  that  wonderful  movement  from  Egypt. 
He  would  recall  the  moment  of  peril  and  of  victory,  when 
from  imminent  death  God  made  a  way  of  life  through  the 
cleft  waters  of  the  sea.  Elijah,  too,  would  comprehend  the 
true  significance  of  the  word.  What  had  his  mission  been 
but  a  leading  out  of  the  people,  an  "  exodus  "  from  a  new 
slavery  to  a  new  freedom,  in  the  government  of  Jehovah. 
Both  these  men  had  led  in  an  exodus,  and  now  they  have 
come  to  speak  of  that  of  which  those  of  the  past  were  but 
a  shadow.  They  talked  with  Him  Who  is  "  the  Author 
and  Perfecter  of  faith."  ^  That  word  "  Author  "  literally 
means  a  file-leader,  the  Man  in  front.  Who  makes  a  track 
through  the  forest  in  which  all  that  come  after  Him  shall 
walk  in  safety.  His  exodus  was  to  be  a  passing  through 
death  into  life,  through  the  baptism  of  passion  into  the 
'Luke  9:  31.  'Acts  2:  24.  3Heb.  12:2. 


The  Celestial  Visitors  241 

infinite  spaces  of  His  Father's  kingdom.  The  surging  of 
the  waves  upon  the  shore  of  old,  would  speak  to  Moses  of 
the  waves  and  billows,  that  soon  should  break  over  the  head 
of  Him  with  Whom  he  held  speech  upon  the  holy  mount, 
as  He  should  lead  the  way  through  death  to  life.  Alone 
He  breasted  the  waves,  alone  He  broke  the  pathway 
through  the  forests.  And  until  this  moment  those  who 
have  believed  in  Him  are  following  in  the  way  He  led, 
and  because  of  His  exodus,  they  also  have  theirs,  and 
are  led  out  to  the  infinite  reaches  of  the  kingdom  of  the 
heavens. 

The  presence  of  Elijah  upon  the  mount,  and  his  con- 
versation with  Jesus,  was  almost  a  more  wonderful  story. 
His  message  to  men  had  been  that  they  should  live  the  life 
of  righteousness,  but  this  Man  is  about  to  give  His  life  to 
be  the  new  dynamic  of  righteousness.  Elijah  had  only 
been  able  to  tell  men  of  the  things  of  God,  but  this  Man 
will  not  only  teach,  but  will  energize,  will  Himself  pass 
into  the  lives  of  men,  and  give  them  power  to  do  the  things 
that  He  shall  tell  them  they  ought  to  do.  Moses  and 
Elijah  talked  to  Him  of  His  exodus,  and  found  that  in  His 
outgoing  through  death  there  should  be  the  fulfilling  of  their 
own  dreams,  the  realization  of  their  own  ambitions. 

If  their  presence  meant  much,  their  passing  was  also  full 
of  significance.  A  cloud  of  glory  overshadowed  and 
removed  them,  and  in  their  removal  taught  the  completion 
of  their  work  in  Him,  There  was  now  no  need  for  A4oses, 
nor  yet  for  Elijah.  All  that  the  Mosaic  economy  fore- 
shadowed found  its  substance  in  Him,  and  Moses  may  pass 
back  to  the  rest  of  the  Father's  house.  All  that  Elijah  had 
heroically  said  in  the  midst  of  much  opposition,  with  falter- 
ing and  even  failure,  Christ  is  now  to  say  with  absolute 
certainty,  and   never  failing,  and  Elijah  may  pass  back  to 


242  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

the  celestial  spaces,  to  wait  the  consummation  of  the  work 
of  Jesus. 

A  significant  statement  by  Luke  is  worth  passing  notice 
in  this  connection.  "When  they  were  fully  awake,  they 
saw  His  glory,  and  the  two  men  that  stood  with  Him."  ^ 
The  significance  of  the  statement  is  that  the  glory  in  which 
Moses  and  Elijah  stood  upon  the  mount  was  His  glory. 
They  stood,  these  saints  of  the  old  covenant,  in  the  light 
in  which  they  shall  abide  forever.  There  upon  the  mount 
stood  these  representatives  of  the  service  of  the  past. 
Moses  had  died  with  sadness  in  his  heart.  The  people 
whom  he  had  led  for  forty  years,  were  still  outside  the 
promised  land,  and  yet  he  had  to  lay  down  his  work  ere  it 
was  completed.  Elijah  was  translated  very  quickly  after 
the  terrible  experience  under  the  juniper  tree,  and  while  the 
people  were  still  living  in  idolatry,  he  had  been  called 
away.  These  men  did  their  work,  and  laid  it  down  un- 
finished, but  God  had  gathered  them  into  the  glory  of  His 
final  kingdom,  and  now  upon  the  mount  had  given  them  the 
promise  that  all  they  had  left  undone  would  yet  be  perfectly 
accomplished. 

So  through  all  the  ages  He  will  gather  His  workers,  and 
at  the  last,  in  the  light  of  the  final  victory,  they  will  under- 
stand the  meaning  of  their  work.  Presently  every  one  will 
have  to  lay  down  unfinished  life's  work.  Nothing  can  be 
completed  here.  And  yet,  at  last,  no  piece  of  work  faith- 
fully done  will  be  lost.  He  will  gather  Moses  and  Elijah 
and  all  the  company  of  His  faithful  servants,  and  show  how 
their  work  merges  into  the  work  of  Jesus,  and  there  finds 
its  crown  and  reward. 

in.     The  presence  of  these   men   suggests  a  message 

'  Luke  9  :  32. 


The  Celestial  Visitors  243 

from  heaven.  The  teaching  of  this  last  section  is  infer- 
ential rather  than  direct,  but  may  not  on  that  account  be  the 
less  valuable.  Looking  upon  them  something  is  learned 
about  the  condition  of  the  departed,  something  about  their 
knou^ledge,  and  something  about  the  central  interest  of  their 
existence. 

"  There  talked  with  Him  two  men,  who  were  Moses 
and  Elijah."  ^  Only  Luke  states  the  matter  exactly  in  this 
form,  and  the  statement  is  of  value.  Note  the  absence  of 
wings.  ""  Two  men,"  that  is  to  say,  they  still  were  what 
they  had  been  in  the  essential  fact  of  their  being.  Their 
presence  in  heaven  was  not  due  to  a  change  in  essential 
nature. 

Then,  notice  that  they  were  in  a  conscious  state.  Their 
minds  still  followed  the  same  line  as  when  upon  the  earth, 
though  now  they  saw  and  understood  clearly.  Matters  at 
which  Moses  had  looked  in  his  own  economy  through  a 
glass  darkly,  he  now  saw  face  to  face.  Gleams  of  truth 
that  had  fallen  upon  the  soul  of  Elijah  and  compelled 
obedience,  even  while  he  knew  there  were  infinite  possibil- 
ities beyond  which  he  could  not  fathom,  now  fell  in  full 
radiance  upon  his  mind.  The  presence  of  these  men  sug- 
gested not  merely  existence  after  life,  but  conscious  ex- 
istence, and  not  conscious  existence  only,  but  the  con- 
tinuity of  the  same  existence  with  enlarged  powers. 

It  is  evident  that  Peter,  James,  and  John  knew  Moses  1 
and  Elijah.  How  they  knew  them,  of  course,  cannot  be 
told.  But  the  fact  that  they  knew  them  suggests  that  the 
identity  of  personality  is  maintained  in  the  world  that  lies 
beyond,  and  in  some  wonderful  manner,  men  know  those 
whom  here  they  never  saw.  Men  will  certainly  then  know 
their  own  loved  ones  when  they  meet  them  in  the  Father's 
^  Luke  9 :  30, 


244  T^^  Crises  of  the  Christ 

home.  The  holy  mount  lights  for  a  moment  the  land 
where  our  loved  ones  wait  for  us.  They  are  still  human, 
they  are  still  conscious,  and  they  are  what  they  were.  We 
shall  know  them. 

There  is  yet  another  suggestion  here  in  the  interest  these 
men  took  in  the  earth  and  what  was  passing  on  it.  They 
came  and  talked  to  Him  of  His  exodus,  spoke  of  the  mys- 
tery of  His  passion,  of  the  joy  of  His  resurrection,  of  His 
loving  lingering  amid  the  ways  of  men,  and  His  triumphant 
ascension  to  the  Father's  right  hand.  These  are  only  sug- 
gestions. Sometimes  the  question  is  asked,  if  the  loved 
ones  in  the  heavens  know  what  is  going  on  upon  the  earth. 
The  answer  seems  to  be  that  upon  occasion,  under  the  ex- 
press command  of  God,  they  are  able  to  find  their  way 
back  and  watch  the  process  of  the  spirits  that  yet  move 
amid  probationary  things.  It  is  sometimes  declared  that  if 
this  be  so,  then  there  must  be  sorrow  in  heaven.  And 
why  should  men  shrink  from  this  conclusion  ?  Faber  was 
surely  right  when  he  said  : — 

"  There  is  no  place  where  earth's  sorrows 
Are  more  felt  than  up  in  heaven." 

Let  it  be  remembered,  however,  that  it  is  always  sorrow  in 
the  light  of  joy,  the  sorrow  of  a  present  sympathy  with 
pain,  in  the  knowledge  that  the  pain  moves  towards  a  pur- 
pose which  in  its  blessedness  far  outweighs  the  present  en- 
durance. Moses  and  Elijah  could  talk  of  His  coming 
sorrow,  because  with  Him  they  looked  on  to  the  joy  that 
was  yet  to  be  revealed. 

If  to-day  men  pass  through  sorrow,  and  the  loved  ones 
beyond  the  vale,  visiting  them,  feel  the  sorrow  in  comrade- 
ship, they  also  joy,  knowing  that  presently  the  song  of 
triumph  shall  end  the  sigh  of  trial. 


The  Celestial  Visitors  245 

«  «  Hath  it  ever  been  granted  those  who  have  passed 
The  river,  to  appear  and  show  themselves, 
Unchanged  in  form,  in  heart  unchangeable. 

To  loved  ones  they  have  left  behind  ?  '     '  It  is  true 
It  hath  been  so. 

But  only  by  His  sovereign  will  and  word 
Who  holds  the  keys  of  Hades  and  of  death. 
And  opens,  as  He  wills,  the  mortal  eye 
To  see  the  mysteries  of  things  unseen.'  "  • 

I  Bishop  Bickersteth. 


XVIII 

THE  DAZED  DISCIPLES 

Having  considered  the  transfiguration  of  Jesus,  and  the 
presence  and  passing  of  Moses  and  Elijah,  it  now  remains 
to  turn  the  attention  to  the  disciples,  and  this  subject  is  of 
supreme  interest.  The  principal  purpose  of  the  trans- 
figuration is  declared  in  the  statement,  "  He  was  trans- 
figured before  them."  * 

The  experience  of  the  holy  mount  had  its  place  in  the 
process  of  the  work  of  the  Master,  in  that  it  was  the  fitting 
consummation  of  a  life  innocent  in  Childhood,  and  holy 
through  all  the  testing  of  growth  into  Manhood.  Born 
without  sin,  triumphing  over  every  attack  made  upon  Him 
by  the  powers  of  evil.  He  at  last  passed  not  by  the  way  of 
death,  but  by  that  of  transfiguration  into  communion  with 
the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  into  the  very  presence 
of  God. 

Moreover  the  presence  and  passing  of  Moses  and  Elijah, 
representing  as  they  did  the  great  movements  of  the  past, 
have  been  seen  to  be  full  of  suggestiveness. 

The  aspect  of  the  transfiguration,  however,  which  is  of 
supreme  value,  is  that  the  disciples  were  taken  to  the  mount, 
were  permitted  to  behold  His  glory,  to  listen  to  His  con- 
verse with  Moses  and  Elijah,  themselves  to  speak  in  the 
light  of  the  glory,  and  to  hear  the  answer  of  God  to  that 
speech. 

The  consideration  proceeds  along  three  lines.     First,  a 

*Matt.  17  :  2. 
246 


The  Dazed  Disciples  247 

contemplation  of  the  men ;  secondly,  a  consideration  of 
their  speech  ;  and  thirdly,  attention  to  the  answer  of  heaven 
to  the  suggestion  of  Peter. 

I.  The  names  of  Peter,  James  and  John  are  associated  on 
more  than  one  occasion,  and  the  fact  certainly  must  have 
significance.  Very  many  reasons  have  been  suggested  for 
the  fact  that  the  Master  took  these  men  to  certain  places 
to  which  the  other  disciples  were  not  taken.  Without  dis- 
cussing those  theories,  one  reason  may  be  considered.  To 
discover  this  it  will  be  helpful  to  call  to  mind  the  occasions 
upon  which  it  happened.  They  are  three  in  number. 
These  men  were  taken  to  the  house  of  Jairus,  to  the 
mount  of  transfiguration,  to  the  garden  of  Gethsemane. 

In  each  case  they  were  brought  into  the  presence  of 
death,  and  in  that  fact  lies  a  partial  solution  of  the  problem. 
Peter's  attitude  towards  death  was  revealed  in  the  memor- 
able conversation  with  his  Lord  chronicled  in  Matthew.' 
While  Jesus  had  spoken  of  a  kingdom  and  keys,  Peter 
had  listened  with  calm  complacency,  but  when  He  pro- 
ceeded to  speak  of  death  upon  a  cross,  Peter  had  been 
strangely  moved,  and  had  exclaimed,  "  Be  it  far  from  Thee, 
Lord."^  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  he  had  followed  Jesus 
to  the  point  of  death,  and  then  had  halted.  This  distinctly 
proves  that  Peter  had  no  true  conception  of  his  Master's 
attitude  towards  death. 

Mark  gives  the  account  of  the  coming  of  James  and 
John  to  Jesus,  and  their  asking  that  when  He  should  come 
into  His  kingdom  they  might  sit  one  on  His  right  hand  and 
one  on  His  left.  In  great  pity  and  love  the  Master  had 
looked  at  them  and  said  :  "  Ye  know  not  what  ye  ask. 
Are  ye  able  to  drink  the  cup  that  I  drink  ?  or  to  be  baptized 

1  Matt.  16  :  14-19.  2  Matt.  i6  :  21-23. 


248  The  Crises  of  the  Christ       ^ 

with  the  baptism  that  I  am  baptized  with  ?  "  They  answered, 
"  We  are  able,"  ^  feeling  that  there  was  no  cup  that  He  should 
drink  that  they  were  not  able  to  share  with  Him,  and  no 
baptism  through  which  He  should  pass  in  which  they  were 
unable  to  have  fellowship  with  Him.  They  were  "  sons 
of  thunder "  and  what  could  make  them  afraid  ?  If  He 
could  pass  through  baptism,  so  also  could  they.  If  He 
were  able  to  drink  some  strange  cup,  so  also  were  they. 
James  and  John  had  followed  Jesus  to  the  point  of  death, 
and  dared  all  results.  Peter  was  afraid.  James  and  John 
were  blindly  courageous.  Both  attitudes  were  wrong. 
None  of  these  men  understood  the  death  towards  which 
the  Master  moved,  nor  the  triumph  that  awaited  Him 
through  death.  They  must  be  taught,  and  the  teaching 
began  before  their  speech  revealed  their  attitude,  and  was 
continued  after  the  experience  of  the  holy  mount.  The 
sequence  of  the  teaching  is  most  clearly  revealed  in  the 
Gospel  of  Mark. 

First  there  is  recorded  the  story  of  the  visit  to  the  house 
of  Jairus.  "  He  suffered  no  man  to  follow  with  Him,  save 
Peter,  and  James,  and  John.  .  .  .  He,  having  put 
them  all  forth,  taketh  the  father  of  the  child  and  her  mother 
and  them  that  were  with  Him,  and  goeth  in  where  the  child 
was.  And  taking  the  child  by  the  hand.  He  saith  unto 
her,  Talitha  cumi ;  which  is,  being  interpreted.  Damsel,  I 
say  unto  thee.  Arise."  ^  She  obeyed,  and  He  handed  her 
to  her  parents.  That  scene,  proving  Christ's  Lordship 
over  death,  was  witnessed  by  Peter,  James  and  John. 

Then  follows  the  account  of  the  transfiguration,  and  the 
fact  that  these  same  three  men  listened  to  the  converse 
with  Moses  and  Elijah  concerning  His  own  death.^ 

And  finally  the  experience  in  Gethsemane,  concerning 
1  Mark  10  :  35-40.  «  Mark  5  :  37-41.  3  Mark  9  :  2. 


The  Dazed  Disciples  249 

which  Mark  says,  "  And  He  taketh  with  Him  Peter  and 
James  and  John,  and  began  to  be  greatly  amazed,  and  sore 
troubled.  And  He  saith  unto  them.  My  soul  is  exceeding 
sorrowful  even  unto  death  :  abide  ye  here,  and  watch."  ^ 

Thus  it  is  at  once  seen  that  each  time  He  took  these 
men  aside.  He  conducted  them  into  the  presence  of  death, 
and  He  revealed  His  threefold  attitude  towards  death.  In 
the  house  of  Jairus  He  was  Master  of  death.  On  the 
mount  of  transfiguration  He  stood  superior  to  death,  trans- 
figured, and  yet  conversing  of  death  to  be  accomplished. 
In  Gethsemane  He  bowed  and  yielded  Himself  to  death — 
a  strange  progression.  These  men,  of  whom  one  was 
afraid,  and  the  other  two  imagined  there  was  nothing  to 
fear,  were  led  through  this  private  and  special  ministry  of 
infinite  patience,  that  they  might  see  the  Master's  connec- 
tion with  death.  In  the  house  of  Jairus  He  addressed  the 
dead  child,  using  the  familiar  speech  of  a  living  love, 
"  Little  lamb,  I  say  unto  thee,  arise."  ^  There  was  no 
thunder  about  His  voice,  no  magnificence  of  majesty,  sug- 
gesting the  assertion  of  authority,  but  the  sweet  whisper  of 
an  infinite  Love,  in  response  to  which  the  spirit  of  the 
little  one  came  back  from  the  spirit  land  to  its  clay  taber- 
nacle. He  stood  in  the  home  evidently  Master  of  death, 
with  a  strength  and  dignity  that  needed  no  outward 
pageantry. 

Then  upon  the  mount  He  was  seen  to  be  in  His  own 
Person  absolutely  superior  to  death,  passing  without  its 
touch  into  the  breadth  and  beauty  of  life  in  the  places 
where  death  never  comes,  and  yet  there  talking  of  it  as  an 
experience  through  which  He  would  soon  pass. 

Then,  strange  and  marvellous  thing,  in  Gethsemane  He 
came  towards  the  hour  of  His  dying,  and  as  He  approached 
1  Mark  14 :  33,  34.  ^  Mark  5  :  41. 


250  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

that  hour,  said  to  those  same  men,  "  My  soul  is  exceeding 
sorrowful  even  unto  death."  ^  To  Peter  and  James  and 
John  were  these  visions  granted. 

Thus  the  presence  of  these  men  on  the  mount  was  part 
of  a  perfect  scheme.  These  were  experiences  which  the 
Master  was  storing  for  them,  which  should  have  their  ex- 
planation in  days  that  were  yet  to  come.  Presently,  when 
the  work  of  the  Cross  was  accomplished,  and  the  Paraclete 
had  been  poured  upon  them,  these  men  would  begin  to  un- 
derstand what  happened  in  the  house  of  Jairus,  upon  the 
holy  mount,  and  most  wonderful  of  all,  how  that  when 
His  soul  was  sorrowful  unto  death,  they  had  beheld  the 
Master  of  death  bowing  to  death,  in  order  that  He  might 
slay  death.  After  that,  Peter  writing  a  letter,  and  speaking 
of  his  own  death,  did  not  so  name  it,  but  borrowing  the 
word  he  heard  upon  the  mount,  wrote,  "  after  my  exodus."  ^ 
Thus  death  was  transfigured  for  these  men  through  the 
patient  process  of  a  special  training  which  the  Master  gave 
them. 

n.  In  turning  from  this  consideration  of  the  men,  to 
give  attention  to  Peter's  words  uttered  in  the  glory  of  the 
mount,  it  is  important  to  notice  their  condition  at  the  time. 
Of  Peter,  Mark  says,  "  He  knew  not  what  to  answer ;  for 
they  became  sore  afraid,"  ^  and  Luke  affirms  "  not  knowing 
what  he  said."  *  These  statements  confirm  the  opinion 
that  the  whole  speech  was  a  blunder. 

Luke's  account  alone  makes  reference  to  the  fact  that 
the  disciples  had  slept.  It  is  probable  that  here,  as  in  the 
garden,  they  fell  asleep  while  the  Master  was  at  prayer. 
Awakening,  and  while  yet  in  a  half-dazed  condition,  they 
looked  upon  the  marvellous  scene  before  them  ;  remember- 

•  Mark  14 :  34.         '^  2  Pet.  1:15.         »  Mark  9:6.         •»  Luke  9  :  33. 


The  Dazed  Disciples  251 

ing,  as  people  waking  suddenly  so  often  first  remember 
matters  but  recently  impressed  upon  the  mind,  the  six  days 
of  estrangement  which  had  followed  upon  their  shunning 
of  the  Cross.  How  changed  the  scene  and  the  Master. 
Jesus,  Whose  face  had  borne  the  marks  of  an  infinite  sor- 
row during  those  days  of  silence,  now  stood  in  the  midst 
of  splendour  such  as  they  had  never  beheld.  His  face 
shone  with  the  brightness  of  the  sun,  and  the  seamless  robe, 
which,  perchance,  love  had  woven  for  Him,  was  white  and 
glistering,  beyond  the  glories  of  the  snows  of  Hermon. 
How  everything  would  rush  back  upon  the  minds  of  the 
men.  Peter  would  remember  the  rebuke  that  had  fallen 
from  his  Master's  lips,  "  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan,"  ^ 
and  then  the  cause  of  that  rebuke,  the  fact  that  he  had  de- 
sired for  his  Master  not  a  Cross,  but  a  kingdom.  And 
now  behold  that  loved  One,  just  as  Peter  would  fain  see 
Him,  and  desired  to  keep  Him.  In  the  mind  of  the  wak- 
ing man  there  would  be  the  contrast  between  this  and  that ; 
between  the  splendour  of  the  glory,  and  the  fact  of  con- 
verse with  heaven's  own  inhabitants ;  and  that  strange  an- 
nouncement  of  a  week  ago,  concerning  Jerusalem,  and  the 
chief  priests'  hatred,  and  the  culminating  death.  The  out- 
come of  this  contrast  was  the  speech  of  the  man  :  "  Lord, 
it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here  " — not  there,  but  here.  Talk 
no  more  of  the  Cross,  but  stay  here  upon  the  mount  in 
glory.  "  If  Thou  wilt,  I  will  make  here  three  tabernacles, 
one  for  Thee,  and  one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elijah."  ^ 

How  strangely  confused  the  mind  of  the  man  was,  is 
evident  by  this  suggestion.  Imagine  making  tabernacles 
for  Moses  and  Elijah,  to  say  nothing  of  the  Master.  Had 
he  said.  Let  us  stay  here  and  make  three  tabernacles,  one 
for  Thee,  and  one  for  me,  and  one  for  James  and  John, 
1  Matt.  16:  23.  «  Matt.  17  :  4. 


252  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

it  would  have  had  more  of  reason  in  it.  What  did  Moses 
and  Elijah  want  with  tabernacles  ?  The  word  tabernacle 
simply  means  a  booth,  or  boughs  made  into  a  shelter  for 
present  use,  Peter's  suggestion  was  that  he  should  go  to 
the  trees  and  bear  back  boughs  with  which  to  construct 
three  temporary  resting-places.  Think  of  Moses  sojourn- 
ing in  a  tabernacle,  or  Elijah  settling  down  to  rest  in  a 
booth.  The  whole  suggestion  is  grotesque,  "  He  knew 
not  what  to  answer,"  and  for  him,  as  for  all  men  in  like 
circumstances,  it  were  infinitely  better  to  say  nothing.  He 
had  lost  the  sense  of  the  spiritual,  and  his  mind,  moving 
wholly  within  the  realm  of  material  things,  imagined  that 
the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect  could  find  shelter  in 
tabernacles  constructed  of  boughs. 

There  was,  however,  a  darker  side  to  the  mistake  of 
Peter,  When  he  suggested  building  three  tabernacles,  one 
for  the  Master,  one  for  Moses  and  one  for  Elijah,  he  seems 
to  have  been  forgetful  of  his  own  confession  made  but 
eight  days  before,  Jesus  had  asked,  "  Whom  do  men  say 
that  the  Son  of  Man  is.?"  and  had  received  the  reply, 
"  Some  say  John  the  Baptist ;  some,  Elijah ;  and  others, 
Jeremiah,  or  one  of  the  prophets,"  Then,  in  answer  to 
His  second  question,  "  Who  say  ye  that  I  am  ?  "  Peter 
had  placed  his  Lord  in  a  position  far  higher  than  that  of 
Elijah,  "  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living 
God,"  ^  Yet  now  he  suggests  making  a  tabernacle  for 
Jesus,  and  one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elijah,  thus  putting 
his  Master  upon  the  same  level  with  these  men  of  the 
past. 

The  mistake  is  by  no  means  an  obsolete  one.  Men  are 
still  attempting  to  make  tabernacles,  one  for  Christ,  one  for 
Confucius,  one  for  Buddha,  Beware  of  such  blasphemy. 
•Matt.  16:  13-16. 


The  Dazed  Disciples  253 

More  harm  was  done  in  1893  '"  ^^^  world's  parliament  oi 
religions  at  Chicago  than  has  yet  been  undone.  Men  from 
the  East,  who  then  heard  arguments  to  show  the  com- 
parison between  the  religion  of  Jesus  and  that  of  others, 
while  perhaps  to-day  thinking  no  less  of  Christ  than  before, 
yet  cling  more  tenaciously  than  ever  to  the  system  in  which 
they  have  been  brought  up.  It  is  ever  dangerous  to  allow 
that  it  is  possible  for  a  moment  to  put  the  best  of  religious 
teachers  in  comparison  with  the  Christ.  One  for  Jesus, 
one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elijah  is  utterly  and  hopelessly 
wrong.  The  man  who  suggests  it  has  lost  the  sense  of  the 
absolute  and  sovereign  supremacy  of  Jesus  Christ  over  all 
teachers. 

III.  Matthew  describes  the  cloud  which  overshadowed 
the  mount  as  a  bright  cloud.  Darkness  glorified,  shadow 
illuminated  !  Wherever  there  is  a  bright  cloud,  the  bright- 
ness is  proof  of  the  light  behind.  Who  has  not  seen  the 
clouds  piled  mountain  high  on  the  horizon,  lit  with 
gorgeous  splendour  ?  Only  the  clouds  are  seen,  but  the 
lights  upon  them  speak  of  the  sun  shining  in  power  behind 
them.  A  bright  cloud  overshadowed  them,  a  symbolic 
cloud.  The  transfiguration  is  passing,  the  outshining  of 
the  splendour  of  His  presence  is  to  cease,  and  the  clouds 
are  gathering  over  the  green  hill  far  away,  but  they  are 
smitten  through  and  through  with  light.  It  is  impossible 
to  hide  the  glory  again  from  these  men.  They  will  never 
again  wholly  forget  the  radiant  vision.  James  will  pass  to 
his  martyr  baptism  with  that  glory  still  upon  his  mind,  and 
that  holy  mount  will  abide  with  Peter  until,  his  work 
ended,  he,  too,  shall  enter  the  cloud,  and  beyond  it,  find 
the  never-fading  light. 

It  was  indeed  a  bright  cloud,  but  it  overshadowed  them 


2^4  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

while  yet  Peter  was  speaking.  It  interrupted  and  silenced 
the  speech  of  earth,  that  the  speech  of  heaven  might  be 
heard.  What  Peter  would  have  said  had  he  been  allowed 
to  proceed,  none  can  tell.  While  he  was  yet  speaking  the 
cloud  came.  This  blundering  speech  of  men  must  be  in- 
terrupted, this  gross  misunderstanding  of  the  Divine  must 
be  corrected,  this  incoherent  prayer  of  a  disciple  but  half 
awake,  must  be  hushed. 

Out  of  the  bright  cloud  came  the  heavenly  voice,  and 
there  are  three  matters  of  importance  to  notice  in  the 
words  spoken.  First,  the  identification  of  this  Man  Who 
has  been  seen  in  resplendent  glory — "  This  is  My  beloved 
Son  "  ;  secondly,  the  announcement  of  the  Divine  satisfac- 
tion— "  In  Whom  I  am  well  pleased  "  ;  and  thirdly,  the 
injunction  laid  upon  these  men,  and  upon  the  Church  and 
all  the  ages  through  them — "  Hear  ye  Him."  ^ 

First,  identification — "  This  is  My  beloved  Son." 
Moses  and  Elijah  were  servants,  this  is  the  Son.  The 
messages  of  the  economies  of  the  past  were  for  the  unfold- 
ing of  the  law.  He  and  His  message  constitute  the  epiphany 
of  grace. 

Then  the  statement  of  Divine  satisfaction — "  In  Whom 
I  am  well  pleased."  God  had  said  this  before  at  the  bap- 
tism in  Jordan,  when  the  private  life  of  Christ  drew  to  a 
close,  and  His  public  life  was  beginning.  And  now  that 
the  second  stage  had  come  to  an  end,  when  the  public  life 
was  closing,  and  the  sacrificial  and  atoning  work  beginning, 
as  He  was  about  to  pass  from  the  culminating  glory  to  take 
His  way  into  'the  shadows  and  into  death,  again  God  said 
"I  am  well  pleased."  Satisfied  with  the  private  life  in 
Nazareth,  with  the  honest  toil  of  the  carpenter's  shop, 
with  the  years  of  public  ministry,  with  the  deeds  of  love 
>  Matt.  17:5. 


The  Dazed  Disciples  255 

that  had  been  scattered  over  all  the  pathway,  the  whole 
life  of  Jesus  from  beginning  to  end  had  given  satisfaction 
to  the  heart  of  God. 

Then  the  injunction — "  Hear  ye  Him."  Moses  and 
Elijah  have  passed.  Let  there  be  no  tabernacle  built  for 
Moses ;  his  mission  is  ended.  "  This  is  My  Son."  Let 
there  be  no  attempt  to  retain  the  fiery  reformer;  Elijah's 
work  is  over.  "  This  is  My  Son."  "  God,  having  of  old 
time  spoken  unto  the  fathers  in  the  prophets  by  divers  por- 
tions and  in  divers  manners,  hath  at  the  end  of  these  days 
spoken  unto  us  in  His  Son,"  ^  "  Hear  Him."  No  other 
voice  is  needed.  Let  them  be  hushed  in  silence.  Let 
Moses  and  Elijah  pass  back  to  the  upper  spaces.  The 
dwellers  upon  earth  have  the  speech  of  the  Son,  and  noth- 
ing else  is  needed — "  Hear  Him." 

It  was  a  word  of  rebuke  silencing  the  blunder  of  Peter. 
It  was  a  word  of  comfort  by  which  God  attested  the  value 
and  virtue  of  Christ.  It  was  a  word  of  encouragement, 
for  if  the  speech  of  Moses  and  Elijah  were  over,  and  their 
presence  had  passed  within  the  veil,  the  Son  is  to  abide,  and 
through  all  the  exigencies  and  intricacies  of  the  coming 
days  His  voice,  sweet  as  the  music  of  heaven,  clear  as  the 
voice  of  a  brother  man,  shall  lead  through  the  mists  to  the 
dawn  of  the  eternal  light. 

What  wonderful  effect  was  produced  upon  these  men  by 
this  scene.  James  died  sealing  his  testimony  with  his  blood, 
a  martyr.  Nothing  more  is  recorded  of  him.  John  takes 
his  way  to  long  life,  and  in  his  writing,  says,  "The  Word 
became  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us  .  .  .  full  of  grace 
and  truth."  ^  The  parenthesis  follows  as  a  flash  of  glory 
from  his  pen,  as  he  remembered  the  mount,  he  wrote,  "  We 
beheld  His  glory,  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  from  the 
»  Heb.  I :  I,  2.  2  John  i :  14. 


256  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Father."  John  can  never  forget.  Peter  in  his  last  epistle 
wrote,  *'  We  did  not  follow  cunningly  devised  fables,  when 
we  made  known  unto  you  the  power  and  coming  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  but  we  were  eye-witnesses  of  His  majesty. 
For  He  received  from  God  the  Father  honour  and  glory, 
when  there  was  borne  such  a  voice  to  Him  by  the  Majestic 
Glory,  This  is  My  beloved  Son,  in  Whom  I  am  well 
pleased:  and  this  voice  we  ourselves  heard  borne  out  of 
heaven,  when  we  were  with  Him  in  the  holy  mount."  ^ 

Thus  Peter  and  John  to  the  end  of  their  ministry  were 
influenced  by  the  vision  of  that  wonderful  night,  and  in- 
fluenced supremely  by  the  speech  of  heaven  and  the  bright 
cloud  that  overshadowed  them. 

To  many  there  comes  no  mount  of  transfiguration,  but 
there  is  for  all  the  speech  of  the  Son.  If  the  majority  are 
not  called  to  some  mount  of  vision  where  they  may  behold 
the  glory  as  these  three  men  beheld  it,  yet  to  every  soul 
amid  the  multitudes  of  the  redeemed  He  speaks  in  every 
passing  day.  God  forbid  that  the  babel  of  earth's  voices 
should  drown  the  accents  of  His  still  small  voice.  To  His 
children  He  speaks  softly  and  sweetly  in  the  innermost  re- 
cesses of  the  heart  day  by  day,  saying  ever,  "  This  is  the 
way,  walk  ye  in  it,"  *  and  out  of  God's  heaven  God's  mes- 
sage ever  speaks,  "This  is  My  Son,  hear  ye  Him."^ 

«  2  Peter  i :  16-18.  « Isa.  30 :  ai.  »  Matt.  17  : 5. 


XIX 

THE  THINGS  THAT  REMAINED 

After  some  heavenly  vision  it  is  well  that  a  pause  should 
be  made,  and  the  question  asked.  What  is  left  vi^hen  the 
actual  vision  has  passed,  and  vi^hat  is  the  result  of  the  vision  ? 
After  the  bright  cloud  that  interrupted  the  ignorant  speech 
of  the  disciples,  and  after  the  heavenly  voice  had  ceased, 
what  happened  ?  When  the  cloud  overshadowed  them, 
and  they  heard  the  voice  of  God,  they  fell  on  their  faces  in 
fear.  When  they  opened  their  eyes  and  looked  around, 
what  was  left  ?  The  answer  to  that  question  is  to  be  found 
in  a  few  minutes'  pause  on  the  mountainside,  whence  the 
glory  had  passed  away,  and  then  in  a  descent  from  the 
mountain  in  the  company  of  Jesus. 

L  The  transfiguration  had  been  a  night  scene,  and  the 
whiteness  of  the  light  radiating  from  the  Person  of  Christ 
had  been  more  brilliant  and  glorious  than  the  dazzling  splen- 
dour of  the  snows  on  Hermon ;  but  the  light  had  passed, 
and  morning  was  breaking  in  the  eastern  sky,  with  its  sug- 
gestion of  the  coming  day.  But  a  few  moments  ago  Jesus 
seemed  to  be  no  longer  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  but  the  veritable 
Son  of  God — God  the  Son.  But  a  few  moments  ago 
Moses  and  Elijah  were  there.  But  a  few  moments  ago 
was  heard  the  incoherent  suggestion  of  Peter — "  Let  us 
make  here  three  tabernacles."  All  this  has  now  passed, 
and  waiting  in  the  quiet  hush  of  the  solemn  morning  hour, 
upon  the  mount,  see  what  follows  the  transfiguration. 

Moses  and  Elijah  have  gone,  gone  also  is  the  flashing 

257 


258  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

splendour  that  lit  the  night,  silenced  is  the  speech  that  fell 
upon  the  astonished  ears  of  Peter,  James,  and  John. 

Imagine  the  disciples  for  a  moment  as  they  looked  around 
them, — the  silence  after  the  speech,  the  loneliness  after 
comradeship  with  celestial  visitors,  and  the  usualness  of 
everything.  "  Lifting  up  their  eyes,  they  saw  no  one,  save 
Jesus  only."  ^ 

It  was  a  solemn  moment.  Moses  and  Elijah  had  passed, 
the  glory  had  vanished,  the  heavenly  voice  was  silent,  and 
they  saw  "Jesus  only."  He  was  the  same  Jesus  that  they 
had  known.  Oh,  the  exquisite  beauty  of  the  statement. 
"  Jesus  came  and  touched  them  and  said.  Arise,  and  be  not 
afraid."  ^  It  was  the  old  familiar  touch,  the  same  touch  that 
they  had  felt  so  often  before.  Who  shall  say  that  when 
talking  with  them.  His  hand  had  not  rested  upon  them  ;  or 
walking  with  them.  His  hand  had  not  arrested  them,  and 
stayed  them  for  a  moment  while  He  spoke  to  them  ?  The 
old  touch,  the  human  touch  of  the  Son  of  Man,  a  Man 
among  them  once  again,  just  as  they  had  known  Him.  It 
was  the  old   familiar  voice,  the  same  Jesus,  "  Jesus  only." 

The  same,  but  yet  so  utterly  different !  "Jesus  only," 
containing  in  His  own  Person  as  now  they  knew,  a  glory 
that  was  hidden,  a  veiled  splendour  that  at  any  moment 
might  flash  out,  yet  hidden  for  some  inscrutable  reason. 
How  strangely  these  men  were  perplexed  will  be  gathered 
from  all  the  history  of  the  days  that  followed  the  transfig- 
uration until  Calvary  was  reached.  They  never  could  think 
of  Him  again  as  they  had  thought  of  Him  before.  For  once 
they  had  been  permitted  to  look  at  Him  changed,  altered, 
transfigured,  shining  with  all  the  splendour  of  that  indwell- 
ing glory  ;  and  even  though  He  had  come  back  to  the  old 
form,  and  the  voice  of  their  Friend  and  Teacher,  and  the 
1  Matt.  17  :8.  "Matt.  17  :  7. 


The  Things  that  Remained  259 

touch  of  the  Man  Jesus,  they  knew  that  underneath  the 
veil  of  that  humanity  there  was  hidden  a  radiant  splen- 
dour. 

In  those  last  days  how  they  would  watch  Him,  and  won- 
der whether  at  some  moment  the  glory  would  not  flame 
again  in  the  sight  of  men.  He  was  never  the  same  again 
because  they  had  seen  more  of  Him.  He  was  to  them 
"  Jesus  only,"  forevermore  the  Centre  of  all  things.  He 
remained,  the  One  Who  fulfilled  the  promises  of  the  past, 
and  realized  all  the  hopes  created  by  the  messages  of  God. 
And  not  merely  was  He  the  One  in  Whom  all  past  history 
culminated,  but  the  One  from  Whom  all  future  history 
should  take  its  form.  From  that  moment  until  to-day 
every  upward  movement,  every  movement  that  has  had  for 
its  issue  the  bettering  of  human  condition,  the  ennobling 
of  the  race,  all  have  found  their  inspiration  in  the  thought, 
teaching,  character,  and  Person  of  Christ.  He  was  the  es- 
sential Light  of  men,  the  Light  of  the  world,  and  all  the 
men  who  have  flung  light  across  the  pathway  of  human  life 
from  that  moment  until  now,  have  not  been  the  Lights  but 
light-bearers,  and  they  have  lit  their  torches  from  the  Light, 
the  Son  of  God. 

"  Jesus  only  " — finality,  God's  perfect  speech.  All  the 
new  in  the  future  will  be  but  the  more  perfect  comprehen- 
sion of  Him,  and  the  great  ones  of  all  the  coming  days  will 
learn  what  He  meant,  when  in  simple  speech  He  spoke 
great  eternal  verities,  which  the  listening  ears  of  men  did 
not  at  the  time  perfectly  understand. 

If  the  first  impression  produced  upon  the  minds  of  the 
apostles  as  they  looked  around  them  was  that  of  silence, 
now  that  the  voice  had  ceased  ;  and  loneliness,  now  that 
Moses  and  Elijah  had  gone  ;  and  the  usualness  of  every- 
thing, now  that  the  unusual  had  passed  away  ;  the  answer 


26o  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

to  that  first  impression  was  found  in  the  presence  of 
"  Jesus  only,"  for  if  no  heavenly  voice  sounded.  His  speech 
was  heard.  If  Moses  and  Elijah  had  passed,  He  remained, 
the  perpetual  Comrade  of  saintly  souls  for  all  the  future. 
If  the  unusualness  had  ceased,  they  began  to  find  that  they 
were  now  in  the  company  of  One  Who  could  transmute 
the  usual  into  the  unusual.  Who  could  pass  with  them  into 
the  valley,  into  the  home  life,  into  the  service  of  all  the 
c6ming  years  until  the  end  ;  and  touching  the  common- 
places of  life,  make  them  flash  with  splendour,  as  His  body 
of  humiliation  shone  with  glory  upon  that  mount  of  trans- 
figuration. This  was  the  first  thing  that  these  men  realized 
as  they  rose  from  their  overcoming  fear.  The  vision  had 
passed,  Moses  and  Elijah  had  gone,  the  voice  was  silent, 
"  Jesus  only  "  remained. 

II.  It  is  most  interesting  to  trace  what  happened  as  these 
men  left  the  mount.  First,  notice  that  as  they  were  com- 
ing down  with  Him,  their  same  Lord  and  Saviour,  the  One 
they  had  known  so  well  during  the  three  years  of  ministry, 
He  charged  them  that  they  should  tell  the  vision  to  'no 
man,  and  there  is  deepest  significance  in  the  command. 
He  enjoined  silence  upon  them  because  it  would  be  im- 
possible for  them  to  tell  aright  the  story  of  the  things  they 
had  seen,  for  such  visions  always  transcend  explanation. 
There  was  a  limit  put  upon  their  silence  ;  "  Tell  the  vision 
to  no  man,  until  the  Son  of  Man  be  risen  from  the  dead."  ^ 
The  real  reason,  undoubtedly,  was  that  these  men  were  to 
wait  until  the  Holy  Spirit  Himself  should  equip  them  for 
the  telling  of  that  story. 

But  other  things  lay  within  that  injunction  of  silence. 
The  theme  for  the  coming  days  was  not  to  be  the  theme 
'  Matt.  17 :  9. 


The  Things  that  Remained  26 1 

of  glory,  but  of  the  Cross  ;  and  Matthew  inserts  here  the 
fact  that  He  told  them  again  the  story  of  the  Cross  that 
had  so  alarmed  Peter  six  days  before  the  transfiguration. 
The  vision  of  the  glory  had  its  place  and  purpose,  but  it 
must  pass  away.  The  multitudes  were  waiting,  the  lunatic 
was  in  the  valley,  the  Cross  and  the  exodus  were  before 
Him.  The  mountain  was  the  place  of  vision,  but  yonder 
lay  the  pathway  of  accomplishment,  and  in  order  that  His 
heart  might  be  set  upon  His  exodus,  and  that  they  might 
come  as  much  as  possible  into  comradeship  with  Him  in 
His  great  work,  nothing  was  to  be  said  of  this  vision.  It 
was  to  be  one  of  the  sealed  stories  during  the  days  of  suf- 
fering. After  the  triumph  of  His  resurrection  and  ascen- 
sion, then  it  might  be  remembered,  understood,  and  told  in 
all  its  meaning. 

Probably  there  was  another  reason  why  silence  was  en- 
joined on  these  men.  Visions  are  of  no  value  save  to  those 
who  see  them.  No  help  comes  from  a  recital  of  some 
vision  granted  to  another  child  of  God.  There  is  a  Divine 
intention  and  purpose  in  that  fact.  The  fact  of  the  vision 
is  not  denied.  What  is  affirmed  is  this,  that  the  vision 
given  to  one  is  not  for  another,  and  the  repetition  of  it 
cannot  help  another  man.  The  vision  of  God  granted  im- 
mediately to  the  soul  of  man  is  for  the  man  to  whom  it  is 
granted.  No  man  can  tell  his  own  vision  and  help  another 
as  that  vision  helped  him,  so  it  is  infinitely  better  to  be 
silent  about  the  deepest  things  that  God  says  to  the  heart. 
Each  must  for  himself  have  the  vision,  if  it  is  to  be  of  use 
and  of  blessing.  Peter  and  James  and  John  were  taken  to 
the  mount  of  transfiguration  for  a  set  purpose,  in  order  that 
their  conception  of  death  might  be  changed  and  altered, 
that  these  men  who  boasted  or  feared  might  come  to  see — 
as  they  had  seen  in  the  house  of  Jairus  and  as  they  were  to 


262  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

see  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane, — His  outlook  upon  death. 
The  telling  of  that  story  of  transfiguration  to  others  would 
not  be  a  help  to  them,  until  the  Holy  Spirit  should  take  the 
story  up  and  make  it  part  of  the  unveiling  of  the  glory  of 
the  Christ,  then  out  of  it  should  come  help  for  all  the 
Church  to  the  end  of  the  age. 

Now  they  have  reached  the  valley,  and  there  are  two 
things  to  be  noticed.  First,  the  group  around  the  lunatic  ; 
and  second,  the  fellowship  of  the  shekel. 

There  is  a  touch  of  great  beauty  in  Luke's  account  of 
the  man  who  brought  his  son  to  Jesus,  not  to  be  found  in 
Matthew  or  Mark,  which  flings  a  wonderful  light  upon  the 
whole  picture.  Luke  records  that  the  man  said  to  Jesus, 
not  only  "  This  is  my  son,"  but  "  mine  only  child,"  ^  and 
the  Greek  word  is  "  my  only  begotten  son,"  the  very  word 
that  is  used  of  Christ's  relation  to  God  ;  and  here  it  is  used 
of  this  devil-possessed  child. 

It  seems  to  have  been  a  symbolic  moment,  proving  the 
necessity  for  the  descent  from  the  mount  and  the  approach 
to  Calvary.  There  in  the  valley,  foremost  in  the  scene, 
was  the  father  with  his  boy,  his  only  begotten  child  ;  round 
about  were  the  disciples,  defeated,  absolutely  unable  to  do 
anything  with  such  a  case  as  this  j  and  around  the  disciples 
was  a  circle  of  sceptical  scribes  ready  to  taunt  these  men 
with  their  failure.  It  was  a  picture  of  the  human  race,  the 
only  begotten  child  of  man,  mastered  by  evil,  and  no  one 
to  deliver.  A  father's  love  was  unable  to  break  the  slavery  ; 
the  loyalty  of  disciples,  as  disciples  merely,  was  quite  help- 
less ;  the  cheap  cynical  sneer  of  the  unbeliever  did  nothing 
to  relieve  the  suffering  of  the  devil-possessed  boy.  Such 
was  the  scene  in  the  valley. 

Looking  upon  it  one  seems  to  see  approaching,  the  Only 
•  Luke  9  :  38. 


The  Things  that  Remained  263 

begotten  of  the  Father  in  Whom  He  is  well  pleased,  Who 
speaks  with  the  voice  of  the  authority  of  heaven,  Who  will 
act  with  all  the  power  of  the  Godhead  behind  Him;  and 
the  only  begotten  child  of  man,  beaten,  bleeding,  and 
bruised  upon  the  highway  and  none  to  deliver. 

Hear  the  words  of  Christ,  which  come  as  a  rebuke 
to  the  faithless  generation, — "  Bring  him  hither  to  Me."  ^ 
For  that  moment  He  left  the  mountain,  for  that  work  He 
turned  His  back  for  the  second  time  upon  the  glory, 
for  that  need  He  declined  to  have  tabernacles  made  which 
would  detain  Him  on  the  mount,  while  here  in  the  valley 
humanity  was  suffering. 

"  Bring  him  hither  to  Me."  Now  mark  His  mastery 
over  all  things.  "  Bring  him  hither  to  Me " — Master 
of  men.  He  rebuked  the  devil,  "  and  the  demon  went  out 
from  him  :  and  the  boy  was  cured  from  that  hour "  ^ — 
Master  of  demons.  The  only  begotten  son  of  a  man  was 
cured  by  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God ;  and  Peter,  James, 
and  John  and  the  rest  stood  round  and  saw  the  wondrous 
work  that  never  could  have  been  performed  had  Jesus 
stayed  upon  the  mount  of  vision. 

Then  note  what  follows.  They  went  down  to  Caper- 
naum, and  the  men  who  were  gathering  the  shekel  for  the 
Temple  came  to  Peter.  It  is  quite  a  mistake  to  imagine 
that  the  men  who  asked  for  this  money  were  collecting  a 
tax  for  the  Roman  power.  What  they  were  collecting 
was  the  half-shekel  for  the  support  of  the  Temple,  which 
according  to  the  old  Mosaic  economy,  was  paid  at  the 
taking  of  the  census.  But  gradually  it  had  become  an  an- 
nual payment,  and  it  was  for  this  purely  voluntary  tax  that 
the  Temple  authorities  came  to  Peter  and  said,  "  Doth  not 
your   Teacher   pay  the    half-shekel  ?  "  and   he  answered, 

J  Matt.  17  :  17.  9  Matt.  17 :  18. 


264  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

"  Yea."  *  It  has  been  suggested  that  he  made  a  mistake, 
but  no  doubt  he  simply  stated  a  fact.  Most  probabl)v  that 
half-shekel  had  been  paid  during  the  three  years  that 
had  passed  whenever  it  had  been  demanded.  Yet  Christ 
had  a  lesson  to  teach,  and  speaking  to  Peter  said,  "  The 
kings  of  the  earth,  from  whom  do  they  receive  toll  or 
tribute  ?  from  their  sons  or  from  strangers  ?  "  And  when 
Peter  said,  "  From  strangers,"  Jesus  said  unto  him, 
"  Therefore  the  sons  are  free."  ^  He  meant  to  teach 
Peter  by  this  that  He  was  what  Peter,  but  a  few  days  ago, 
had  said  He  was,  the  Son  of  God.  He  was  the  King's 
Son,  the  Prince  of  the  Temple.  There  was  no  need 
for  Him  to  pay  the  half-shekel.  By  His  nature  and 
position  He  was  exempt  from  this  contribution  to  the 
Temple,  nevertheless — and  whatever  else  is  forgotten 
in  this  study,  catch  this  thought, — "  Lest  we  cause  them 
to  stumble,"  ^  I  will  pay  it.  The  word  is  "  lest  we  become 
a  scandal  to  them."  These  men  would  not  understand 
His  claim  of  freedom  from  the  payment  of  the  half-shekel, 
and  rather  than  cause  them  to  stumble  He  forfeited  His 
personal  right. 

Then  mark  what  He  said,  "  Go  thou  to  the  sea,  and 
cast  a  hook,  and  take  up  the  fish  that  first  cometh  up; 
and  when  thou  hast  opened  his  mouth,  thou  shalt  find 
a  shekel."  A  shekel  ?  But  they  wanted  a  half-shekel. 
"  That  take,  and  give  unto  them  for  Me  and  thee." 
There  are  no  sweeter  words  in  the  gospel  than  these,  "  for 
Me  and  thee," — comradeship,  companionship,  fellowship 
with  Peter,  even  to  the  contribution  to  the  Temple. 

Oh,  how  wondrously  was  Peter  discovering  his  Master, 
and  how  when  the  Spirit  came,  and  lit  up  these  events,  did 
he  love  Him  and  worship  Him  !  King  of  glory  on  the 
« Matt.  17  :  24.  ^  Matt.  17  :  25,  26.  ^  Matt.  17  :  27. 


The  Things  that  Remained  265 

mount,  Master  of  human  life  and  of  devils  in  the  valley. 
Comrade  of  every  child  of  His  love,  sharing  responsibility 
even  to  the  payment  of  taxes.  He  need  not  have  paid  the 
shekel,  but  He  did  so  with  Peter  for  two  reasons :  first, 
not  to  be  misunderstood  of  the  men  who  collected  the  tax ; 
and  secondly,  that  He  might  enter  into  companionship 
to  the  last  detail  of  the  commonplaces  of  daily  life  with 
His  own  disciples.  These  are  the  things  that  follow 
the  mount. 

In  closing  this  series  there  yet  remain  one  or  two  infer- 
ences worth  gathering.  Although  only  three  disciples  saw 
the  transfiguration,  while  eight  others  who  were  loyal 
in  their  love  and  service  were  shut  out,  yet  not  one 
of  these  eight  was  excluded  from  that  which  remained 
when  the  transfiguration  glory  had  passed.  "Jesus  only" 
was  not  only  for  Peter,  James  and  John,  but  for  all 
the  rest,  and  by  this  time  they  have  seen  Him  in  His 
glory,  so  the  vision  was  only  postponed. 

And  concerning  these  men,  the  words  of  the  Master  in 
another  connection  have  application :  "  Blessed  are  they 
that  have  not  seen,  and  yet  have  believed."  ^  There  are 
still  those  to  whom  no  visions  come,  no  moments  upon  the 
mount  suffused  with  a  glory  that  never  was  on  land  or  sea. 
Let  such  not  envy  the  men  of  vision.  It  may  be  that  the 
vision  is  given  to  strengthen  a  faith  that  else  were  weak. 
It  is  to  the  people  who  can  live  along  the  line  of 
what  others  call  the  commonplace,  and  yet  trust,  that 
the  Master  says,  "  Blessed  are  they  that  have  not  seen,  and 
yet  have  believed."  The  morning  will  reveal  the  reason 
why  visions  are  given  to  some  and  not  to  others,  but 
if  tempted  to  wish  for  such  an  experience  as  these 
men  had,  let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  the  majority  of  the 
>  John  20 :  29. 


266  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

apostles  had  no  share  in  it,  and  yet  they  fulfilled  His  will 
and  reached  His  home,  and  their  names  also  flash  with 
splendour  from  the  foundations  of  the  city  that  God  is 
building.  Let  those  who  have  had  no  vision  trust  Him 
still.  Let  such  as  have  seen  a  vision  walk  in  its  light,  but 
remember  that  more  precious  than  the  vision  is  that  which 
remains  when  the  vision  passes,  the  common  heritage  of 
all  the  disciples, — "  Jesus  only." 

Lastly,  it  is  all-important  to  remember  that  all  mounts 
of  vision,  save  the  last,  must  be  left,  for  the  valleys.  In 
the  valleys  to-day  are  men  possessed  of  devils  ;  and  the 
scepticism  of  cheap  literature,  of  which  there  is  much 
abroad,  never  took  a  devil  out  of  a  man.  It  is  all  in  suc- 
cession to  the  sneer  of  the  scribe  and  Pharisees.  Jesus 
Christ  standing  in  the  valley  to-day  can  say  as  He 
said  then,  "  Bring  him  hither  to  Me." 

It  is  the  challenge  of  His  might  and  the  voice  of  His 
love,  and  the  business  of  the  disciples  is  to  bring  such  to 
Him.  He  will  still  cast  out  the  demon  as  He  ever  did. 
Men  must  leave  the  mountain  for  the  valley,  but  they  can 
carry  the  mountain  with  them  into  the  valley.  They  who 
visit  the  mount  may  pass  back  into  the  commonplaces  of 
life  in  new  power,  taking  with  them  the  truth,  that  behind 
the  commonplace  lies  the  light  that  flashed  upon  the  mount 
of  transfiguration.  Happy  are  the  men  who  can  say  with 
Peter  on  the  mount,  "  Lord,  it  is  good  to  be  here  " — and 
then,  with  not  a  word  about  the  tabernacles,  pass  to  the 
valley  with  Him ;  there  they  will  see  Him  casting  out  a 
demon,  and  repeat,  "  Lord,  it  is  good  to  be  here  also." 
Then,  returning  to  the  commonplace,  to  the  payment  of 
taxes,  they  will  hear  Him  say,  "  For  Me  and  thee  "  ;  and 
will  reply,  "  Lord,  it  is  good  to  be  here  also."  Whether 
on  the  mountain,  in  the  valley,  or  in  the  home,  wherever 


The  Things  that  Remained  267 

He  is,  it  is  good  to  be.  No  house  is  common  where  He 
dwells,  no  valley  is  dark  and  hopeless  through  which  He 
passes,  and  no  solitary  mountain  height  on  which  He 
stands  is  without  possibility  of  vision.  Man's  one  safety 
lies  in  being  with,  and  listening  to  "  Jesus  only." 

From  the  resplendent  glory  of  this  Crisis  in  which,  in 
the  fulfillment  of  His  human  life.  He  has  faced  anew  the 
fact  of  His  dying,  the  Christ  passes  on  towards  the  Cross, 
with  the  tread  of  One  Who  having  conquered  goes  forth 
to  yet  sterner  battles,  and  more  glorious  triumphs. 


BOOK  V 

THE  CRUCIFIXION 


XX.  The  Approach 
XXI.  The  Sufferings  of  Christ 
XXII.  Sin  Unveiled,  Grace  Outshining 

XXIII.  The  Kingly  Exodus 

XXIV.  The  Representative  Crowds 


'  .  .  .  .  j^s  the  load 

Immense^  intolerable^  of  the  world^s  sin. 
Casting  its  dreadful  shadow  high  as  heaven^ 
Deep  as  Gehenna^  nearer  and  more  near 
Grounded  at  last  upon  that  Sinless  Soul 
With  all  its  crushing  weight  and  killing  curse. 
Then  first^  from  all  eternity  then  fir st^ 
From  His  beloved  Son  the  Father' s  face 
Was  slowly  averted,  and  its  light  eclipsed  • 
And  through  the  midnight  broke  the  Sufferer's  groan, 
Eli,  Eli,  lama  sabachthani  P 
The  echo  was  the  mockeries  of  hell. 
Reverberate  in  human  lips.      We  heard, 
And  shudder  d.      Gabriel  leaned  on  me  a  space. 
And  hid  his  face  within  my  vesture"  s  folds. 
As  if  the  sight  were  all  too  terrible 
Even  for  arch  angelic  faith.      But  now 
Once  more  the  agonizing  Fictim  moan' d. 
Uttering  His  anguish  in  one  dreadful  plaint, 
I  thirst  y    His  last :  for,  when  the  cooling  sponge 
Had  touched  His  lips,  a  loud  and  different  cry. 
As  if  of  triumph.  It  is  finished,  rang 
Upon  our  startled  ears  y   and  with  a  child 's 
Confiding  tender  trustfulness,  that  breathed 
Father,  to  Thy  hands  I  commend  My  Spirit, 
He  bow'd  His  head,  and  yielded  up  the  ghost." 

— E.  H.  BiCKERSTETH. 
"  Yesterday,  To-day,  and  Forever." 


And  as  they  came  out,  they  found  a  man  of  Cyrene,  Simon  by 
n^me :  him  they  compelled  to  go  with  them,  that  he  might  bear 
His  Cross. 

And  when  they  were  come  unto  a  place  called  Golgotha,  that 
is  to  say.  The  place  of  a  skull,  they  gave  Him  wine  to  drink 
mingled  with  gall :  and  when  He  had  tasted  it.  He  would  not 
drink.  And  when  they  had  crucified  Him,  they  parted  His  gar- 
ments among  them,  casting  lots  ;  and  they  sat  and  watched  Him 
there.  And  they  set  up  over  His  head  His  accusation  written. 
This  is  Jesus  the  King  of  the  Jews.  Then  are  there  crucified 
with  Him  two  robbers,  one  on  the  right  hand  and  one  on  the  left. 
And  they  that  passed  by  railed  on  Him,  wagging  their  heads,  and 
saying.  Thou  that  destroyest  the  temple,  and  buildest  it  in  three 
days,  save  Thyself:  if  Thou  art  the  Son  of  God,  come  down  from 
the  Cross.  In  like  manner  also  the  chief  priests  mocking  Him, 
with  the  scribes  and  elders,  said.  He  saved  others ;  Himself  He 
cannot  save.  He  is  the  King  of  Israel ;  let  Him  now  come  down 
from  the  Cross,  and  we  will  believe  on  Him.  He  trusteth  on  God ; 
let  Him  deliver  Him  now,  if  He  desireth  Him :  for  He  said,  I  am 
the  Son  of  God.  And  the  robbers  also  that  were  crucified  with 
Him  cast  upon  Him  the  same  reproach. 

Now  from  the  sixth  hour  there  was  darkness  over  all  the  land 
until  the  ninth  hour.  And  about  the  ninth  hour  Jesus  cried  with  a 
loud  voice,  saying  Eli,  Eli,  lama  sabachthani  ?  that  is.  My  God, 
My  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me  ?  And  some  of  them  that 
stood  there,  when  they  heard  it,  said.  This  Man  calleth  Elijah. 
And  straightway  one  of  them  ran,  and  took  a  sponge,  and  filled 
it  with  vinegar,  and  put  it  on  a  reed,  and  gave  Him  to  drink. 
And  the  rest  said.  Let  be ;  let  us  see  whether  Elijah  cometh  to  save 
Him.  And  Jesus  cried  again  with  a  loud  voice,  and  yielded  up 
His  Spirit.  And  behold,  the  veil  of  the  temple  was  rent  in  two 
from  the  top  to  the  bottom  ;  and  the  earth  did  quake  ;  and  the 
rocks  were  rent ;  and  the  tombs  were  opened  ;  and  many  bodies 
of  the  saints  that  had  fallen  asleep  were  raised  ;  and  coming  forth 
out  of  the  tombs  after  His  resurrection  they  entered  into  the  holy 
city  and  appeared  unto  many.  Now  the  centurion,  and  they  that 
were  with  him  watching  Jesus,  when  they  saw  the  earthquake, 
and  the  things  that  were  done,  feared  exceedingly,  saying.  Truly 
this  was  the  Son  of  God.  And  many  women  were  there  behold- 
ing from  afar,  who  had  followed  Jesus  from  Galilee,  ministering 
unto   Him :  among  whom  was  Mary   Magdalene,  and    Mary  the 

271 


mother    of  James    and   Joses,  and    the   mother   of  the  sons  of 

Zebedee. — Matt.  27  :  32-^6. 

H:  *  5ii  *  *  *  * 

And  they  bring  Him  unto  the  place  Golgotha,  which  is,  being 
interpreted.  The  place  of  a  skull.  And  they  offered  Him  wine 
mingled  with  myrrh  :  but  He  received  it  not.  And  they  crucify 
Him,  and  part  His  garments  among  them,  casting  lots  upon  them, 
what  each  should  take.  And  it  was  the  third  hour,  and  they  cruci- 
fied Him.  And  the  superscription  of  His  accusation  was  written 
over.  The  King  of  the  Jews.  And  with  Him  they  crucify  two 
robbers  ;  one  on  His  right  hand,  and  one  on  His  left.  And  they 
that  passed  by  railed  on  Him,  wagging  their  heads,  and  saying. 
Ha !  Thou  that  destroyest  the  temple,  and  buildest  it  in  three  days, 
save  Thyself,  and  come  down  from  the  Cross.  In  like  manner 
also  the  chief  priests  mocking  Him  among  themselves  with  the 
scribes  said.  He  saved  others  ;  Himself  He  cannot  save.  Let  the 
Christ,  the  King  of  Israel,  now  come  down  from  the  Cross,  that 
we  may  see  and  believe.  And  they  that  were  crucified  with  Him 
reproached  Him. 

And  when  the  sixth  hour  was  come,  there  was  darkness  over  the 
whole  land  until  the  ninth  hour.  And  at  the  ninth  hour  Jesus  cried 
with  a  loud  voice,  Eloi,  Eloi,  lama  sabachthani  ?  which  is,  being  in- 
terpreted. My  God,  My  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me  ? 
And  some  of  them  that  stood  by,  when  they  heard  it,  said.  Be- 
hold, He  calleth  Elijah.  And  one  ran,  and  filling  a  sponge  full  of 
vinegar,  put  it  on  a  reed,  and  gave  Him  to  drink,  saying.  Let  be  ; 
let  us  see  whether  Elijah  cometh  to  take  Him  down.  And  Jesus 
uttered  a  loud  voice,  and  gave  up  the  ghost.  And  the  veil  of  the 
temple  was  rent  in  two  from  the  top  to  the  bottom.  And  when 
the  centurion,  who  stood  by  over  against  Him,  saw  that  He  so 
gave  up  the  ghost,  he  said.  Truly  this  man  was  the  Son  of  God. 
And  there  were  also  women  beholding  from  afar :  arnong  whom 
were  both  Mary' Magdalene,  and  Mary  the  mother  of  James  the 
less  and  of  Joses,  and  Salome  ;  who,  when  He  was  in  Galilee, 
followed  Him,  and  ministered  unto  Him  ;  and  many  other  women 
that  came  up  with  Him  unto  Jerusalem. — Mark  i^ :  22-41. 

And  there  followed  Him  a  great  multitude  of  the  people,  and 
of  women  who  bewailed  and  lamented  Him.  But  Jesus  turning 
unto  them  said.  Daughters  of  Jerusalem,  weep  not  for  Me,  but 
weep  for  yourselves,  and  for  your  children.  For  behold,  the  days 
are  coming,  in  which   they  shall    say.  Blessed  are  the  barren,  and 

272 


the  wombs  that  never  bare,  and  the  breasts  that  never  gave  suck. 
Then  shall  they  begin  to  say  to  the  nnountains.  Fall  on  us ;  and  to 
the  hills.  Cover  us.  For  if  they  do  these  things  in  the  green  tree, 
what  shall  be  done  in  the  dry  ? 

And  there  were  also  two  others,  malefactors,  led  with  Him  to 
be  put  to  death. 

And  when  they  came  unto  the  place  which  is  called.  The  skull, 
there  they  crucified  Him,  and  the  malefactors,  one  on  the  right 
hand  and  the  other  on  the  left.  And  Jesus  said.  Father,  forgive 
them  ;  for  they  know  not  what  they  do.  And  parting  His  gar- 
ments among  them,  they  cast  lots.  And  the  people  stood  behold- 
ing. And  the  rulers  also  scoffed  at  Him,  saying,  He  saved  others  ; 
let  Him  save  Himself,  if  this  is  the  Christ  of  God,  His  chosen. 
And  the  soldiers  also  mocked  Him,  coming  to  Him,  offering  Him 
vinegar,  and  saying,  If  Thou  art  the  King  of  the  Jews,  save  Thy- 
self And  there  was  also  a  superscription  over  Him,  This  is  the 
King  of  the  Jews. 

And  one  of  the  malefactors  that  were  hanged  railed  on  Him,  say- 
ing. Art  not  Thou  the  Christ  ?  save  Thyself  and  us.  But  the  other 
answered,  and  rebuking  him  said.  Dost  thou  not  even  fear  God, 
seeing  thou  art  in  the  same  condemnation  ?  And  we  indeed  justly  ; 
for  we  receive  the  due  reward  of  our  deeds :  but  this  Man  hath 
done  nothing  amiss.  And  he  said,  Jesus,  remember  me  when  Thou 
comest  in  Thy  kingdom.  And  He  said  unto  him.  Verily  I  say 
unto  thee.  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  Me  in  Paradise. 

And  it  was  now  about  the  sixth  hour,  and  a  darkness  came  over 
the  whole  land  until  the  ninth  hour,  the  sun's  light  failing :  and  the 
veil  of  the  temple  was  rent  in  the  midst.  And  Jesus,  crying  with 
a  loud  voice  said.  Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  commend  My  spirit : 
and  having  said  this.  He  gave  up  the  ghost.  And  when  the  cen- 
turion saw  what  was  done,  he  glorified  God,  saying.  Certainly 
this  was  a  righteous  man.  And  all  the  multitudes  that  came 
together  to  this  sight,  when  they  beheld  the  things  that  were  done, 
returned  smiting  their  breasts.  And  all  His  acquaintance,  and 
the  women  that  followed  with  Him  from  Galilee,  stood  afar  off, 
seeing  these  things. — Luke  2j  :  27-4^. 

******* 

They  took  Jesus  therefore  :  and  He  went  out,  bearing  the  Cross  for 
Himself,  unto  the  place  called  The  place  of  a  skull,  which  is  called 
in  Hebrew  Golgotha  :  where  they  crucified  Him,  and  with  Him  two 
others,  on  either  side  one,  and  Jesus  in  the  midst.     And  Pilate  wrote 

273 


a  title  also,  and  put  it  on  the  Cross.  And  there  was  written,  Jesus 
OF  Nazareth,  the  King  of  the  Jews.  This  title  therefore  read 
many  of  the  Jews,  for  the  place  where  Jesus  was  crucified  was  nigh 
to  the  city  ;  and  it  was  written  in  Hebrew,  and  in  Latin,  and  in 
Greek.  The  chief  priests  of  the  Jews  therefore  said  to  Pilate, 
Write  not.  The  King  of  the  Jews ;  but,  that  He  said,  I  am  King  of 
the  Jews.     Pilate  answered.  What  I  have  written  I  have  written. 

The  soldiers  therefore,  when  they  had  crucified  Jesus,  took  His 
garments,  and  made  four  parts,  to  every  soldier  a  part ;  and  also  the 
coat :  now  the  coat  was  without  seam,  woven  from  the  top  through- 
out. They  said  therefore  one  to  another.  Let  us  not  rend  it,  but 
cast  lots  for  it,  whose  it  shall  be :  that  the  scripture  might  be  ful- 
filled, which  saith. 

They  parted  My  garments  among  them, 
And  upon  My  vesture  did  they  cast  lots. 

These  things  therefore  the  soldiers  did.  But  there  were  standing 
by  the  Cross  of  Jesus  His  mother,  and  His  mother's  sister,  Mary 
the  wife  of  Clopas,  and  Mary  Magdalene.  When  Jesus  there- 
fore saw  His  mother,  and  the  disciple  standing  by  whom  He  loved. 
He  saith  unto  His  mother.  Woman,  behold  thy  son !  Then  saith 
He  to  the  disciple.  Behold,  thy  mother  !  And  from  that  hour  the 
disciple  took  her  unto  his  own  home. 

After  this  Jesus,  knowing  that  all  things  are  now  finished,  that 
the  scripture  might  be  accomplished,  saith,  I  thirst.  There  was  set 
there  a  vessel  full  of  vinegar  :  so  they  put  a  sponge  full  of  the  vinegar 
upon  hyssop,  and  brought  it  to  His  mouth.  When  Jesus  therefore 
had  received  the  vinegar.  He  said.  It  is  finished :  and  He  bowed 
His  head,  and  gave  up  His  spirit. 

The  Jews  therefore,  because  it  was  the  Preparation,  that  the 
bodies  should  not  remain  upon  the  cross  upon  the  sabbath  (for  the 
day  of  that  sabbath  was  a  high  day),  asked  of  Pilate  that  their  legs 
might  be  broken,  and  that  they  might  be  taken  away.  The  soldiers 
therefore  came,  and  brake  the  legs  of  the  first,  and  of  the  other 
that  was  crucified  with  Him  :  but  when  they  came  to  Jesus,  and 
saw  that  He  was  dead  already,  they  brake  not  His  legs :  howbeit 
one  of  the  soldiers  with  a  spear  pierced  His  side,  and  straightway 
there  came  out  blood  and  water.  And  he  that  hath  seen  hath 
borne  witness,  and  his  witness  is  true  :  and  he  knoweth  that  he 
saith  true,  that  ye  also  may  believe.  For  these  things  came  to 
pass,  that  the  scripture  might  be  fulfilled,  A  bone  of  Him  shall  not 
be  broken.  And  again  another  scripture  saith.  They  shall  look  on 
Him  Whom  they  pierced. — John  ig :  17-^7- 

274 


XX 

THE  APPROACH 

There  is  considerable  divergence  of  opinion  as  to  whether 
Jesus  was  conscious  of  the  full  meaning  of  His  mission 
during  the  days  of  His  boyhood  and  young  manhood. 
A  full  discussion  of  this  subject  is  not  here  attempted. 
Neither  recorded  word  of  His,  nor  clear  statement  of  scrip- 
ture, give  any  decisive  declaration  on  the  point.  Believing 
in  the  perfection  of  His  un fallen  human  nature,  it  would 
seem  as  though  all  the  probability  were  in  favour  of  the 
opinion  that  He  saw  the  Cross,  and  knew  through  all  the 
quiet  processes  of  preparation,  that  therein  lay  the  final  fact 
of  His  wondrous  work. 

His  communion  with  His  Father  was  perfect,  and  in  un- 
clouded intelligence  He  would  understand  the  meaning  of 
the  sacred  writings  of  His  people.  It  is  unthinkable  that 
He  shared  their  blindness  as  to  that  portion  of  the  prophetic 
writings,  which  had  reference  to  the  suffering  of  the 
Messiah.  His  first  utterance  declares  His  consciousness 
of  relation  to  His  Father,  and  understanding  of  the  fact. 
This  in  itself  would  seem  to  warrant  belief  that  He  realized 
the  fact  of  His  Messiahship.  If  this  be  so,  then  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  He  also  knew  that  the  pathway  of  the 
Messiah  to  the  throne  was  the  pathway  of  suffering  and  the 
Cross. 

This  position  is  strengthened  by  His  accurate  appre- 
hension of  the  meaning  of  the  symbolism  of  the  Hebrew 
worship.     All  the  types  and  shadows  of  the  ceremonial  law 

275 


276  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

were  luminous  to  Him.  The  very  calendar  of  the  feasts 
must  have  spoken  to  His  heart  its  true  message. 

From  this  study  of  the  approach  of  Jesus  to  His  Cross, 
eliminating  any  further  reference  to  the  early  years,  and 
confining  attention  to  those  of  the  public  ministry,  there 
is  no  longer  room  for  doubt  or  uncertainty.  It  is  perfectly 
certain  that  from  the  commencement  of  His  public  ministry 
He  was  perfectly  conscious  of  the  Cross.  Through  the 
three  years  of  preaching,  of  working  of  miracles,  of  conflict, 
and  of  training  of  His  own.  He  moved  with  quiet  dignity, 
and  set  determination,  towards  the  Cross  of  His  passion. 

The  present  study  is  an  attempt  to  demonstrate  this  con- 
sciousness by  an  examination  of  many  of  the  things  He 
said,  which  while  not  revealing  the  fact  of  the  Cross  to  the 
men  of  His  age,  clearly  prove  His  consciousness  of  it,  in 
the  light  of  subsequent  events.  Behind  all  the  teaching 
and  activity  of  the  Master  there  is  evidently  a  sub-con- 
sciousness of  the  Cross,  and  on  at  least  five  occasions  this 
flames  out,  declaring  itself  in  unmistakable  ways.  These 
may  safely  be  spoken  of  as  the  lowlands  of  sub-conscious- 
ness, and  the  mountain  peaks  of  immediate  consciousness. 
A  consideration  of  each  will  now  be  attempted. 

I.  In  the  first  place  then  an  examination  of  words  of 
His,  which  while  not  immediately  revealing  the  fact  of  the 
Cross,  do  yet  conclusively  prove  that  it  was  present  to  His 
mind,  in  the  midst  of  all  the  ceaseless  activity  of  three  years 
of  public  ministry. 

There  is  a  notable  silence  concerning  it  as  to  open 
declaration  until  the  moment  when  His  Messiahship  was 
confessed  by  Peter.  He  then  began  to  speak  plainly  of  the 
Cross,  but  yet  during  all  that  period  of  preaching  and 
teaching,    it   was    present  to  His  mind,  and  is  the  only 


The  Approach  277 

explanation  of  certain  things  He  did,  and  words  He 
uttered. 

In  such  a  study  as  this,  the  principal  factor  is  that  of 
careful  attention  to  the  Master's  own  words.  Comments 
upon  them  are  of  minor  importance,  and  will  only  be  made 
in  an  attempt  to  indicate  their  true  meaning. 

"  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you.  Ye  shall  see  the  heaven 
opened,  and  the  angels  of  God  ascending  and  descending 
upon  the  Son  of  Man."  ' 

The  Lord  had  spoken  of  Nathanael  as  "  an  Israelite 
indeed."  ^  In  response  to  his  evident  wonder  He  makes  a 
statement  closely  connected  with  His  declaration  that  this 
man  was  a  true  child  of  Israel.  It  calls  to  mind  the  reve- 
lation made  to  the  patriarch  concerning  the  communication 
existing  between  heaven  and  earth  by  the  ladder,  and  the 
ascending  and  descending  angels,  and  of  the  fact  that  in 
the  King  of  Israel  there  shall  be  the  fulfillment  of  all  that 
was  suggested  by  that  dream.  How  were  these  words  of 
Jesus  fulfilled  ?  Only  by  the  way  of  His  Cross,  and  resur- 
rection, and  ascension. 

"  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Woman,  what  have  I  to  do  with 
thee  ?     Mine  hour  is  not  yet  come."  ^ 

This  is  the  first  of  a  series  of  references  in  the  Gospel 
of  John  to  an  hour  yet  to  come.  A  comparison  of  them 
will  show  that  they  all  refer  to  the  Cross.  His  mother 
evidently  thought  that  now  at  the  commencement  of  public 
ministry.  He  would  demonstrate  His  Divine  calling,  and 
accomplish  His  work,  and  in  the  first  fact  she  was  cor- 
rect, but  her  understanding  was  limited.  He  wrought  the 
miracle  she  suggested,  and  it  was  His  first  sign,  but  His 
words  prove  His  understanding  of  the  fact  that  His  mightiest 
work  could  only  be  accomplished  by  the  way  of  the  Cross. 
1  John  1:51.  »  John  1 :  47.  3  John  2 : 4, 


278  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

"  Destroy  this  temple,  and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it 
up.'- 

The  Pharisees  demanded  His  authority  for  cleansing  the 
temple,  and  His  answer,  which  was  utterly  misunderstood 
at  the  time,  declared  His  Cross  and  resurrection  to  be  the 
authority. 

"  And  as  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness, 
even  so  must  the  Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up ;  that  whosoever 
believeth  may  in  Him  have  eternal  life."  ^ 

Utterly  perplexed  by  the  strange  words  that  have  fallen 
upon  his  ear,  Nicodemus  at  last  said,  "  How  can  these 
things  be  ?  "  that  is  to  say,  granting  the  truth  of  the  asser- 
tion made,  by  what  process  can  there  be  accomplishment  ? 
The  reply  of  the  Lord,  almost  certainly  not  then  under- 
stood by  Nicodemus,  yet  reveals  His  clear  understanding, 
that  life  could  only  be  communicated  through  His  uplifting 
in  the  sorrows  of  death. 

"  My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  Me,  and 
to  accomplish  His  work."  ^ 

In  the  absence  of  the  disciples  He  had  been  dealing  with 
a  lost  woman,  and  winning  her  back  with  inimitable  strength 
and  tenderness  to  the  pathway  of  virtue.  When  they,  re- 
turning, offered  Him  food.  He  declared  that  the  very  suste- 
nance of  His  highest  life  consisted  in  the  doing  of  the 
will,  and  the  accomplishment  of  His  work.  How  evidently 
here  His  mind  was  dwelling  upon  that  mighty  work  by 
which  He  would  seek  and  save  the  lost. 

"  The  Son  of  Man  hath  authority  on  earth  to  forgive 
sins."' 

Here  by  a  miracle  of  healing,  He  demonstrated  to  His 
critics  His  power  to  forgive  sins,  while  His  very  claim  to 

'John  2:  19.  "  John  3  :  14,  15.  st  John  4:  34. 

*  Matt,  9 :  6.     (See  also  Mark  2  :  10  ;  Luke  5  :  24.) 


The  Approach  279 

be  able  to  do  this,  proves  His  consciousness  of  the  fact 
that  "  His  own  self  bare  our  sins  in  His  body  upon  the 
tree,"  '  for  by  this  bearing  of  sin  alone  has  He  power  to 
forgive. 

"  Can  the  sons  of  the  bride-chamber  mourn,  as  long  as 
the  bridegroom  is  with  them  ?  but  the  days  will  come, 
when  the  bridegroom  shall  be  taken  away  from  them,  and 
then  will  they  fast."  ^ 

In  astonishment  at  the  absence  of  fasting  in  the  lives  of 
His  disciples,  men  contrasted  this  fact  with  the  fasting  of  the 
disciples  of  the  Baptist,  and  asked  His  explanation.  In 
answer  He  declared  that  while  He  was  with  them,  there 
was  no  room  for  mourning,  and  then  there  is  evident  His 
consciousness  of  the  coming  Cross,  as  He  declared  that 
when  the  bridegroom  should  be  taken  away,  the  sons  of 
the  bride-chamber  would  mourn. 

"  Even  so  the  Son  also  giveth  life  to  whom  He  will."' 

In  controversy  with  His  foes  He  made  this  sublime  as- 
sertion of  His  power  to  give  life  to  those  who  are  dead,  an 
assertion  He  could  only  make  in  view  of  His  victory  over 
death  through  the  Cross  and  resurrection. 

"  And  he  that  doth  not  take  his  cross  and  follow  after 
Me,  is  not  worthy  of  Me.  He  that  findeth  his  life  shall 
lose  it ;  and  he  that  loseth  his  life  for  My  sake  shall  find 
it."* 

In  these  words,  uttered  when  first  He  commissioned  the 
twelve,  there  is  a  meaning  far  deeper  than  they  then 
understood,  or  were  intended  to  understand.  They  were 
to  take  up  the  Cross  and  follow  after  Him,  and  as  He 
uttered   the  words,  most  surely  there  was  present   to  His 


» I  Pet.  2 :  24. 

"  Matt.  9 :  15.     (See  also  Mark  2 :  19,  20 ;  Luke  5  :  34,  35.) 

3  John  5  :  21.  *  Matt.  10 :  38,  39. 


28o  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

mind  His  own  Cross.  And  yet  He  declared  that  "  he  that 
findeth  his  life  shall  lose  it;  and  he  that  loseth  his  life  for 
My  sake  shall  find  it."  He  knew  how  afterwards  such 
declaration  would  find  its  full  explanation  and  vindication 
by  the  way  of  that  Cross,  in  which  He  found  His  life  by 
losing  it,  and  lost  His  life  to  find  it. 

"As  Jonah  was  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the  belly 
of  the  whale  ;  so  shall  the  Son  of  Man  be  three  days  and 
three  nights  in  the  heart  of  the  earth,"  ^ 

In  answer  to  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  who  sought  a 
sign,  He  declared  that  He  would  give  them  none  save  that 
of  Jonah,  but  He  linked  that  with  a  coming  fact,  namely, 
that  of  His  Cross,  and  burial,  and  resurrection.  He  under- 
stood perfectly  that  no  sign  He  wrought  would  be  final, 
save  that  mightiest  of  all,  of  a  man  cast  out  in  death,  yet 
winning  his  victories  by  return  to  life. 

"The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  treasure  hidden 
in  the  field;  which  a  man  found,  and  hid;  and  in  his  joy 
he  goeth  and  selleth  all  that  he  hath,  and  buyeth  that  field. 
Again,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  man  that  is  a 
merchant  seeking  goodly  pearls ;  and  having  found  one 
pearl  of  great  price,  he  went  and  sold  all  that  he  had,  and 
bought  it."  ^ 

In  the  midst  of  the  parables  of  the  kingdom,  these  have 
evident  reference  to  His  coming  passion.  The  popular 
interpretation  of  them  fails  to  discover  this,  in  supposing 
that  lost  man  sells  all  to  buy  the  field,  and  possess  the 
pearl.  That  is  an  utter  failure  to  appreciate  the  essential 
value  of  the  parable.  What  has  man  to  sell  to  buy  the 
pearl  of  price  ?  He  is  a  bankrupt  beggar  on  life's  high- 
way, and  nothing  that  he  has  to  sell  will  purchase  for 
him  the   field  of  the  world,  or  the  pearl  of  price.     It  is 

1  Matt.  12  :  40.     (See  also  Luke  n  :  30,)  *  Matt.  13  :  44-46. 


The  Approach  281 

Christ  Who  sold  all  to  possess  the  pearl,  and  in  that 
double  declaration  of  the  cost  at  which  He  purchased  the 
field  of  the  world,  and  the  pearl  which  is  the  Church,  there 
was  evidently  present  to  His  mind  His  Cross.  We  "  were 
redeemed,  not  with  corruptible  things,  with  silver  or 
gold,  .  .  .  but  with  precious  blood,  as  of  a  lamb  with- 
out blemish  and  without  spot,  even  the  blood  of  Christ."  ^ 

"  I  am  the  living  Bread  which  came  down  out  of  heaven  : 
if  any  man  eat  of  this  bread,  he  shall  live  forever :  yea, 
and  the  bread  which  I  will  give  is  My  flesh,  for  the  life  of 
the  world.  The  Jews  therefore  strove  one  with  another, 
saying.  How  can  this  Man  give  us  His  flesh  to  eat  ?  Jesus 
therefore  said  unto  them.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you. 
Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man  and  drink  His 
blood,  ye  have  not  life  in  yourselves.  He  that  eateth  My 
flesh  and  drinketh  My  blood  hath  eternal  life ;  and  I  will 
raise  him  up  at  the  last  day.  For  My  flesh  is  meat  indeed, 
and  My  blood  is  drink  indeed.  He  that  eateth  My  flesh 
and  drinketh  My  blood  abideth  in  Me,  and  I  in  him."^ 

In  this  memorable  discourse  on  the  true  sustenance  of 
man's  spiritual  life,  while  not  declaring  in  detail,  no  argu- 
ment is  needed  to  prove  that  He  was  speaking  out  of  the 
consciousness  of  that  Cross  by  which  He  would  give  His 
flesh  for  the  meat,  and  His  blood  for  the  drink  of  the 
world. 

So  far  the  references  have  been  indirect,  proving  the 
consciousness  of  the  Cross  in  His  own  mind.  Those 
which  follow  are  clearer,  because  they  come  after  Peter's 
confession,  and  are  subsequent  therefore  to  His  clear  an- 
nouncement of  the  Cross  as  the  issue  of  His  work,  to  His 
own  disciples. 

"  If  any  man  have  a  hundred  sheep,  and  one  of  them  be 
»  Z  Pet.  I ;  18,  19.  »  John  6 :  51-56. 


282  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

gone  astray,  doth  he  not  leave  the  ninety  and  nine,  and  go 
unto  the  mountains,  and  seek  that  which  goeth  astray  ?  "  ^ 

In  this  most  wonderful  chapter  which  deals  with  the  child 
and  the  Church,  these  words  clearly  reveal  His  conscious- 
ness of  the  long  journey  into  the  uttermost  darkness  that 
He  must  take  for  the  finding  and  restoration  of  that  which 
had  gone  astray. 

"Jesus  therefore  saith  unto  them.  My  time  is  not  yet 
come ;  but  your  time  is  always  ready.  The  world  cannot 
hate  you ;  but  Me  it  hateth,  because  I  testify  of  it,  that  its 
works  are  evil.  Go  ye  up  unto  the  feast :  I  go  not  up 
unto   this   feast ;  because   My  time   is   not  yet  fulfilled."  ^ 

Here  is  another  reference  to  the  hour  that  had  not  yet 
come,  this  time  spoken  to  His  brethren,  as  at  the  first  it 
was  addressed  to  His  mother.  They  were  urging  Him  to 
manifest  Himself,  and  accomplish  something.  He  declared 
that  the  supreme  moment  had  not  arrived,  knowing  per- 
fectly that  between  Him  and  any  manifestation  of  real 
power,  there  lay  the  Cross. 

"  Jesus  therefore  said.  Yet  a  little  while  am  I  with  you, 
and  I  go  unto  Him  that  sent  Me.  Ye  shall  seek  Me,  and 
shall  not  find  Me :  and  where  I  am,  ye  cannot  come." ' 

To  the  officers  sent  to  arrest  Him,  He  uttered  these 
words,  and  in  common  with  all  those  of  a  like  nature, 
spoken  to  those  outside  the  immediate  circle  of  His  dis- 
ciples, they  prove  His  consciousness  of  the  Cross,  while 
not  openly  declaring  it. 

"Jesus  therefore  said.  When  ye  have  lifted  up  the  Son 
of  Man,  then  sh^ll  ye  know  that  I  am  He,  and  that  I  do 
nothing  of  Myself,  but  as  the  Father  taught  Me,  I  speak 
these  things."  * 

»Matt.  18:  12.  2  John  7:  6-8. 

3  John  7  :  33,  34.  4  John  8  :  28. 


The  Approach  283 

Here  again  is  the  consciousness  of  limitation  until  the 
lifting  up  of  the  Cross,  after  which  men  shall  know. 

"  I  beheld  Satan  fallen  as  lightning  from  heaven."  ' 

At  the  return  of  the  seventy,  as  they  recounted  the 
story  of  their  journeying  and  their  work,  He  uttered  these 
most  wonderful  words,  which,  while  variously  interpreted, 
certainly  indicate  the  discomfiture  and  defeat  of  the  enemy 
which  was  only  wrought  in  the  Cross.  The  words  there- 
fore prove  the  Lord's  consciousness  of  that  Cross. 

"  We  must  work  the  works  of  Him  that  sent  Me, 
while  it  is  day :  the  night  cometh,  when  no  man  can 
work."  2 

This  declaration  of  Christ  has  very  often  been  taken  out 
of  its  setttng  and  its  relation,  and  has  been  made  to  teach 
that  which  is  undoubtedly  true,  but  what  is  not  here  de- 
clared. Through  John,  as  has  been  seen,  there  is  a  refer- 
ence to  an  hour  which  was  coming.  It  was  to  be  an  hour 
of  darkness,  of  night  ;  and  here  He  said  to  His  disciples  in 
connection  with  the  healing  of  the  man  born  blind,  "  IVe 
must  work,"  and  then  declared  that  presently  the  night  was 
coming  in  which  no  man  could  work.  His  mind  was  almost 
certainly  fixed  upon  that  deep,  dense,  dark  night,  in  which 
man  should  be  excluded,  and  God  alone  should  accomplish 
the  redemption  of  the  lost  race. 

"  I  am  the  good  Shepherd  :  the  good  Shepherd  layeth 
down  His  life  for  the  sheep.  .  .  .  I  lay  down  My 
life,  that  I  may  take  it  again.  No  one  taketh  it  away  from 
Me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of  Myself.  I  have  power  to  lay  it 
down,  and  I  have  power  to  take  it  again." ' 

No  comment  is  necessary  here  to  prove  the  Lord's  con- 
sciousness of  His  Cross. 

1  Luke  10 :  i8.  "^  John  9:4.  »  John  10 :  11,  17,  18. 


284  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

"  But  I  have  a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with  j  and  how 
am  I  straitened  till  it  be  accomplished  ! "  ' 

Here  is  an  almost  startling  declaration  of  His  sense  of 
limitation  of  the  work  of  preaching,  and  miracle  working. 
He  seems  to  have  gazed  on  towards  the  dark  and  awful 
passion-baptism  with  eagerness  for  it,  that  He  might  be  no 
longer  straitened,  but  able  to  accomplish  all  that  could  only 
be  accomplished  through  its  mysterious  experiences. 

"  Behold,  I  cast  out  demons  and  perform  cures  to-day 
and  to-morrow,  and  the  third  day  I  am  perfected."  ^ 

How  closely  this  follows  upon,  and  adds  emphasis  to, 
the  last  quotation.  The  Pharisees  were  warning  Him  of 
Herod's  hatred  and  opposition,  and  in  calm  and  dignified 
language  He  declared  His  present  work,  and  that  presently 
He  would  be  perfected.  He  looked  towards  the  perfecting 
by  the  way  of  His  Cross  and  resurrection. 

"  Whosoever  doth  not  bear  his  own  cross,  and  come 
after  Me,  cannot  be  My  disciple."  ^ 

Here  is  another  instance  similiar  to  that  recorded  in 
Matthew*  in  which  the  value  of  His  word,  as  subsequent 
events  would  prove,  was  created  by  the  fact  of  His  own 
Cross. 

"What  man  of  you,  having  a  hundred  sheep,  and  having 
lost  one  of  them,  doth  not  leave  the  ninety  and  nine  in  the 
wilderness,  and  go  after  that  which  is  lost,  until  he  find  it  ? 
And  when  he  hath  found  it,  he  layeth  it  on  his  shoulders, 
rejoicing."  * 

In  this  wonderful  parable  of  the  lost  sheep,  the  lost  piece 
of  silver,  the  lost  man,  a  parable  thus  indicating  the  order 
of  the  Divine  plan  of  salvation,  is  the  whole  gospel  of  re- 
demption ;  the  saving  of  the  sheep,  illustrative  of  the  work 

'Luke  12:  50.  *  Luke  13:  32.  3  Luke  14:  27. 

4  Matt.  10:  38.,  a  Luke  15:  4,5. 


The   Approach  28^ 

of  Jesus,  seeking  for  the  silver,  illustrative  of  the  work  of 
the  Church  indwelt  by  the  Spirit,  and  the  welcome  of  the 
prodigal,  illustrative  of  the  attitude  of  God  to  man.  At 
the  first  in  His  declaration  concerning  the  Shepherd  seek- 
ing the  wanderer,  one  finds  His  Cross  and  passion. 

"Jesus  answered,  Are  there  not  twelve  hours  in  the 
day  ?  If  a  man  walk  in  the  day,  he  stumbleth  not,  because 
he  seeth  the  light  of  this  world."  ^ 

The  Master  proposed  to  go  to  Jerusalem  that  He  might 
wake  Lazarus  from  sleep,  and  His  disciples  protested  be- 
cause of  the  opposition  that  had  been  stirred  up  against 
Him,  and  the  certainty  they  felt  that  men  would  lay  hands 
upon  Him  to  kill  Him.  To  their  objection  He  replied  in 
words  that  are  in  harmony  with  some  already  considered  in 
this  Gospel  of  John,  which  show  His  consciousness  of  a 
working  day,  merging  into  a  terrible  night ;  and  while  His 
attitude  is  a  revelation  of  His  sense  of  security  until  the 
day's  work  be  over,  it  also  clearly  indicates  His  conscious- 
ness of  the  Cross, 

"  But  first  must  He  suffer  many  things,  and  be  rejected 
of  this  generation."^ 

"  Behold,  we  go  up  to  Jerusalem  ;  and  the  Son  of  Man 
shall  be  delivered  unto  the  chief  priests  and  scribes;  and 
they  shall  condemn  Him  to  death,  and  shall  deliver  Him 
unto  the  Gentiles  to  mock,  and  to  scourge,  and  to  crucify : 
and  the  third  day  He  shall  be  raised  up."  ^ 

"  But  Jesus  answered  and  said.  Ye  know  not  what  ye 
ask.  Are  ye  able  to  drink  the  cup  that  I  am  about  to 
drink  ? "  * 

"  Even  as  the  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  ministered 

1  John  11:9.  2  Luke  17  :  25. 

'Matt.  20:  18,  19.     (See  also  Mark  10:  33,  34;  Luke  18:  31-33.) 

*  Matt.  20:  22.     (See  also  Mark  10 :  38.) 


286  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for 
many."  ' 

Upon  these  no  comment  is  necessary.  Here  He  was 
teaching  His  disciples  that  second  lesson,  which  they 
utterly  failed  to  learn,  until  the  accomplishment  of  the 
facts. 

"  For  in  that  she  poured  this  ointment  upon  My  body, 
she  did  it  to  prepare  Me  for  burial."  ^ 

Mary,  conscious  of  some  dark  sorrow  settling  over  His 
life,  with  the  keen  intuition  of  a  great  love,  perceiving  the 
very  shadow  of  death  upon  Him,  anointed  His  feet ;  and  in 
His  recognition  of  the  gracious  action  there  is  a  revelation 
of  the  overwhelming  consciousness  of  the  Cross,  which 
was  yet  unappreciated  by  the  many,  and  discovered  only  by 
Mary. 

"  But  afterwards  he  sent  unto  them  his  son,  saying. 
They  will  reverence  my  son.  But  the  husbandmen,  when 
they  saw  the  son,  said  among  themselves, This  is  the  heir; 
come,  let  us  kill  him,  and  take  his  inheritance.  And  they 
took  him,  and  cast  him  forth  out  of  the  vineyard,  and  killed 
him.  .  .  .  Jesus  saith  unto  them.  Did  ye  never  read 
in  the  scriptures. 

The  stone  which  the  builders  rejected. 

The  same  was  made  the  Head  of  the  corner: 

This  was  from  the  Lord, 

And  it  is  marvellous  in  our  eyes  ? 

Therefore  say  I  unto  you.  The  kingdom  of  God  shall  be 
taken  away  from  you,  and  shall  be  given  to  a  nation 
bringing  forth  the  fruits  thereof.     And  he  that  falleth  on 

'  Matt.  20  :  28.     (See  also  Mark  lo  :  45.) 

*  Matt.  26:  12.     (See  also  Mark  14:  8;  John  12:  7.) 


The  Approach  287 

this  stone  shall  be  broken  to  pieces :  but  on  whomsoever  it 

shall  fall,  it  will  scatter  him  as  dust." ' 

Thus,  in  what  was  probably  Christ's  last  appearance  in 
the  temple,  in  a  parable  and  an  application  of  Scripture,  He 
openly  declared  the  issue  of  His  ministry  to  be  the  Cross. 

"  Ye  know  that  after  two  days  the  passover  cometh,  and 
the  Son  of  Man  is  delivered  up  to  be  crucified. 
My    time   is   at   hand ;  I  keep  the  passover  at  thy  house 
with  My  disciples.     .     .     .     Verily  I  say  unto  you,  that 
one  of  you  shall  betray  Me."  ^ 

These  Scriptures  are  the  records  of  His  last  messages  to 
His  disciples,  all  of  them  delivered  under  the  very  shadow 
of  His  Cross,  the  fact  of  which  is  evident  to-day;  and  yet 
though  openly  declared  to  them,  it  seems  as  though  they 
had  no  clear  understanding  of  its  nearness. 

Thus  we  have,  in  hurried  fashion  passed  over  a  wide 
field,  and  consequently  nothing  is  perfect  save  the  actual 
Scriptures  as  recorded.  Enough  though  has  surely  been 
done,  to  show  that  from  the  moment  when  His  public 
ministry  began,  there  was  present  to  His  mind  its  consum- 
mation in  the  Cross.  In  great  love  and  tenderness  He  hid 
it  from  His  disciples  until  they  had  learned  the  first  lesson, 
that,  namely,  of  His  Messiahship.  And  even  then,  appre- 
ciating their  weakness  and  inability  to  perfectly  under- 
stand. He  seems  to  have  spoken  to  them  seldom  concern- 
ing it.  The  pathway  of  the  three  years  was  a  pathway 
ever  resolutely  trodden  towards  the  Cross,  and  while  the 
consciousness  of  its  pain  was  ever  upon  Him,  so  was  also 
the  sense  of  its  value,  for  upon  the  triumph  there  to  be 
won.  He  based  His  authority  for  all  the  wonders  which  He 

>  Matt.  21 :  37-44.     (See  also  Mark  12  :  6-10  ;  Luke  20:  13-18.) 
2  Matt.  26:  2,  18,  21.     (See  also  John  14-17.) 


288  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

wrought,  and  the  blessings  which  He  scattered  were  in  His 
view  made  possible  thereby. 

n.  There  is  no  necessity  to  do  more  than  tabulate  these 
occasions  which  have  been  referred  to  at  the  beginning, 
as  the  mountain  peaks  of  full  consciousness.  For  the 
most  part  they  have  been  considered  in  connection  with 
their  proper  setting,  and  it  is  not  necessary  therefore  to  do 
more  now  than  indicate  them  as  the  occasions  upon  which 
Jesus  seems  to  have  come  through  some  special  circum- 
stance face  to  face  with  the  fact  of  His  Cross. 

The  first  of  these  occasions  is  the  baptism.  Then, 
as  has  been  seen.  His  very  consent,  nay.  His  request 
for  baptism,  and  His  insistence  upon  it,  was  the  outward 
symbol  of  His  identification  with  sinners,  and  therefore, 
moreover,  of  His  identification  with  all  that  sin  meant. 
For  Him  the  whelming  in  the  water  foreshadowed  the 
passion-baptism.' 

The  second  occasion  was  that  of  Peter's  confession, 
when,  having  consummated  the  teaching  required  to  reveal 
to  His  disciples  His  Messlahship,  in  a  few  words,  startling 
and  comprehensive.  He  declared  the  whole  pathway  to  and 
through  the  Cross.  "  From  that  time  began  Jesus  to 
shew  unto  His  disciples,  that  He  must  go  unto  Jerusalem, 
and  suffer  many  things  of  the  elders  and  chief  priests  and 
scribes,  and  be  killed,  and  the  third  day  be  raised  up."  ^ 

The  third  instance  of  this  clear  consciousness  of, 
and  consent  to,  the  Cross  is  to  be  found  in  His  transfigura- 
tion. While  the  light  of  His  human  victory  illumined  the 
darkness  of  the  night,  and  He  held  familiar  converse  with 
the  lawgiver  and  the  prophet,  it  was  of  His  Cross  and 
resurrection  that  they  spoke.' 

» Matt.  3  :  15.  *  Matt.  16 :  21.  »  Luke  9:31. 


The  Approach  289 

Again  for  the  fourth  time  at  the  coming  of  the  Greeks  with 
their  request  to  see  Him,  it  is  evident  that  the  sense  of  the 
Cross,  as  one  of  great  sorrow,  was  upon  Him,  for  He  de- 
clared that  His  soul  was  troubled.  Here  again,  however, 
He  deliberately  chose  and  asked  that  His  Father's  name 
should  be  glorified,  whatever  the  cost  might  be  to  Him- 
self, and  then  declared  His  conception  of  what  the  Cross 
would  mean.^ 

And  lastly  in  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  having  passed 
outside  the  last  limit  of  human  comradeship,  in  awful  lone- 
liness He  looked  into  the  heart  of  the  great  passion,  and 
trembling  at  the  prospect,  yet  with  a  strength  of  purpose 
that  astonishes,  and  fills  man  with  deep  reverence.  He 
chose  the  will  of  God,  including,  as  it  did,  the  empty- 
ing of  this  cup  of  all  its  bitterness,  that  He  might  fill 
it  with  the  wine  of  life  for  the  sons  of  men.^ 

Thus  in  deepest  sense  He  is  seen  to  have  been  "  a  Man 
of  sorrows,  and  acquainted  with  grief."  ^  Yet  though 
His  whole  life  was  based  upon  conformity  to  the  Divine 
purpose,  even  though  He  knew  its  issue  was  this  mystery 
of  deep  pain.  He  nevertheless  exercised  a  ministry  of 
beneficence  which  was  ever  a  magnificent  prophecy  of  final 
victory  by  the  way  of  the  Cross. 

>  John  12 :  28.  *  Luke  22 :  3^-44.  'Isa.  53 :  3. 


XXI 

THE  SUFFERINGS  OF  CHRIST 

Than  this  there  is  no  subject  more  mysterious  and  yet 
more  sacred  in  the  whole  realm  of  revealed  truth.  This 
is  the  heart  of  that  mystery  of  the  love  and  wisdom  of 
God,  which  wrought  towards,  and  made  possible  the  salva- 
tion of  man.  At  the  commencement  of  this  study  I 
would  place  on  record  not  idly,  and  not  for  the  mere  sake 
of  doing  so,  but  under  the  urgency  of  a  great  conviction, 
that  I  am  deeply  conscious  of  approaching  things  too  high, 
and  too  profound  for  any  finality  of  statement.  Person- 
ally I  increasingly  shrink  from  any  attempt  to  speak  in  de- 
tail of  the  great  fact  of  the  Cross.  This  is  not  because  I 
am  growing  away  from  it,  but  rather  on  account  of  the 
fact  that  I  am  more  deeply  conscious  every  day  of  my  need 
of  all  it  stands  for,  and  as  I  have  pressed  closer  to  its  heart, 
I  have  become  almost  overwhelmed  with  its  unfathomable 
deeps,  and  its  infinite  majesty. 

It  is  impossible,  however,  that  any  consideration  of  the 
mission  of  Jesus  should  be  complete,  if  this  subject  were 
omitted.  Let  all  therefore  who  approach  the  subject  do  so 
with  abandonment  to  that  Spirit  of  God  Who  "searcheth 
all  things,  yea,  the  deep  things  of  God,"  ^  praying  earnestly 
to  be  led,  so  far  as  it  is  possible,  to  see  and  understand  the 
mystery  of  His  pain. 

In  the  light  of  the  earlier  studies,  it  may  here  and  now 
be    stated   that   the   Cross   solves  two  problems  that  have 

» I  Cor.  2  :   lo. 

290 


The  Sufferings  of  Christ  291 

found  solution  nowhere  else.     These  problems  may  thus~\ 
be  stated. 

First,  How  can  God  be  just  and  justify  the  sinner? 

Second,  How  can  righteousness  of  conduct  be  made 
possible  to  those  who  are  poisoned  and  paralyzed  by  sin  ? 

As  to  the  first  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  word 
"justify "  means  the  clearance  of  the  soul  from  guilt. 
Justification  must  be  infinitely  more  than  forgiveness.  Sin 
must  be  put  away,  and  made  to  be  as  though  it  had  not 
been.  For  justification  the  soul  must  be  put  into  a  place 
of  purity,  so  restored  that  there  shall  be  no  spot,  or  blemish, 
or  stain,  not  merely  upon  the  record,  but  what  is  of  in- 
finitely deeper  significance,  upon  the  character.  To  be 
justified  before  God  is  to  be  put  into  such  condition,  that 
no  trace  remains  of  the  guilt  of  sin.  That  is  the  problem 
which  is  solved  in  the  Cross.  How  can  God  be  just,  that 
is,  true  to  Himself  in  nature,  and  yet  justify  the  sinner, 
that  is,  receive  him  upon  the  basis  of  freedom  from  sin  ? 

The  second  problem  touches  practical  life,  and  deals 
with  an  actual  condition,  rather  than  a  relative  one.  How 
can  righteousness  of  conduct  be  made  possible  to  those 
who  are  poisoned  and  paralyzed  by  sin  ?  The  difficulty 
of  the  problem  is  at  once  discovered  if  the  impossibility  of 
producing  right  conduct  in  man  is  thought  of,  apart  from 
the  subject  immediately  under  consideration,  that,  namely, 
of  the  Cross.  It  is  a  problem  that  has  never  been  solved 
in  the  past,  neither  can  it  be  at  the  present  hour.  Right 
conduct  can  only  issue  from  right  character,  and  therefore 
is  not  possible  to  man  whose  whole  nature  is  poisoned  and 
paralyzed  by  sin. 

These  are  the  problems  with  which  the  Cross  is  ap- 
proached. Can  a  man  be  justified  before  God,  and  sancti- 
fied in  his  own   actual  experience  ?     Can  a  sinner  be  so 


292  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

cleared  from  guilt  that  he  may  have  a  conscience  void  of 
offence  ?  Can  a  man,  whose  powers  have  become  paralyzed 
by  the  virus  of  sin,  be  so  changed  as  to  enable  him  to  do 
the  things  he  cannot  do  ?  Can  a  man  be  made  able  to 
translate  the  vision  of  an  ideal  into  the  actuality  of  daily 
life  ?  These  problems  baffle  all  the  wisdom  of  man  apart 
from  the  Cross,  and  still  defy  all  attempts  at  solution. 
These  are  the  problems  solved  by  the  mystery  of  Christ's 
sufferings. 

The  present  study  is  not  directed  to  an  examination  of 
the  results  of  the  Cross,  but  to  a  reverent  contemplation 
of  the  way  by  which  they  were  made  possible. 

It  is  impossible  to  follow  the  Lord  into  the  place  of  His 
mightiest  work.  Alone  He  entered  and  wrought.  No 
man  followed  Him,  nor  could  follow  Him  at  all,  in  help,  or 
in  sympathy,  or  in  understanding.  Fallen  man  was  de- 
graded in  will,  emotion,  and  intelligence,  and  therefore  was 
not  able  to  help,  or  sympathize,  or  understand.  From  that 
inner  mystery,  therefore,  man  was  excluded. 

Tracing  the  Lord  through  the  three  years  in  which  He 
was  constantly  conscious  of  the  Cross,  it  will  be  noticed 
how  gradually  and  yet  surely.  He  moved  out  into  the  lone- 
liness of  the  final  fact  of  His  work.  While  living  in 
Nazareth  He  was  u  favourite.  He  "  advanced  in  wisdom 
and  stature,  ?nd  in  *avour  with  God  and  men."  '  At  the 
commencement  of  His  public  ministry  both  the  rulers  and 
the  multitudes  gathered  round  Him.  The  men  of  light 
and  leading  were  at  least  interested  in  Him,  and  ready  to 
listen  to  Him,  and  more  than  inclined  r.o  patronize  Him. 
They  were  among  the  first  to  fall  back  from  Him.  As 
He,  in  the  great  progress  of  His  teaching,  uttered  deeper 
and  yet  deeper  truths,  men  who  were  merely  curious  be- 
•  Luke  2  :  52. 


The  Sufferings  of  Christ  293 

came  excluded,  and  only  His  own  disciples  remained  in 
anything  approaching  close  association  with  Him.  Yet 
further  on,  the  ranks  of  the  disciples  were  thinned.  After 
the  discourse  recorded  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  John,  in 
which  He  declared  He  would  give  His  flesh  for  the  meat, 
and  His  blood  for  the  drink,  of  the  world,  many  went 
back  and  walked  no  more  with  Him.  Without  closely  fol- 
lowing the  details,  it  will  be  seen  that  His  approach  to  His 
Cross  is  marked  by  constant  withdrawals,  until  at  last  the 
nearest  flee,  the  story  of  their  going  being  recorded  in  one 
tragic  sentence,  "  Then  all  the  disciples  left  Him,  and 
fled."i 

He  passed  into  the  actual  place  of  His  passion,  the 
region  of  that  mystery  of  pain  through  which  He  was 
about  to  solve  these  problems,  in  utter  loneliness.  No 
man  could  help,  no  man  could  sympathize,  no  man  could 
understand.  Let  this  always  be  borne  in  mind  when  His 
suffering  is  followed  and  contemplated. 

Men  may  gather  reverently  to  the  place  of  the  passion, 
but  can  only  know  of  it  from  what  is  revealed  in  the  words 
that  fell  from  Hi?  own  lips.  That  should  be  accepted  as  a 
canon  and  principle  of  interpretation  concerning  the  suf- 
ferings of  Christ.  "^Vh.it  othen.  ma',  i.hink  or  say,  can 
only  be  of  value  z^  it  haiivioniz.cs  vvuh,  and  expresses  the 
meaning  of  the  Vxords  He  Himself  uttered.  Nothing  can 
be  known  of  that  mystery  of  pain  save  from  Himself. 
Any  attempt  to  go  beyond  this  limit  is  a  mistaken  attempt, 
and  borders  upon  the  realm  of  unholy  intrusion.  The  sub- 
ject had  infinitely  better  be  left  whcrt  He  left  it,  considering 
reverently,  and  only,  His  owji  words. 

Of  these  there  have  been  recorded  seven  several  utter- 
ances. The  first  three  manifest  His  keen  and  marvellous 
»  Matt.  26 :  56. 


294  '^^^  Crises  of  the  Christ 

insight,  even  on  that  Cross  of  shame,  into  the  deepest 
things  and  simplest  necessities  of  human  life.  The  last 
four  are  expressions  of  His  own  Spirit's  experience  in  utter 
loneliness,  and  come  out  of  that  awful  isolation. 

The  first  three  :  "  Father,  forgive  them  ;  for  they  know 
not  what  they  do  "  ;  '  "  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  Me  in 
Paradise  "  ;  '^  "  Woman,  behold,  thy  son  !  Behold,  thy 
mother !  "  ^  In  these  is  evident  His  pity  for  men  in  the 
issue  of  their  sin.  His  power  towards  those  believing  in 
Him,  and  His  provision  for  those  upon  whom  His  love  is 
set. 

Then  the  last  four  :  "  Eloi,  Eloi,  lama  sabachthani  ?  "  * 
"  I  thirst "  ; '  "  It  is  finished  "  ;  '^  "  Father,  into  Thy  hands 
I  commend  My  Spirit."  ^  Here  man  stands  in  the  presence 
of  the  process  of  His  mightiest  work,  through  strife  and  suf- 
fering to  the  consciousness  and  calm  of  victory. 

I  repeat  emphatically  that  beyond  what  these  words 
reveal  of  the  Cross,  man  has  neither  ability  nor  authority 
to  go. 

From  the  present  study  the  first  three  sayings  are  elimi- 
nated, and  save  for  a  final  moment,  the  last  two  also. 
Thus  two  words  are  left  which  express  all  that  man  can 
ever  hope  to  know  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ.  First,  the 
spiritual  anguish,  expressed  in  the  cry,  "  My  God,  My 
God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me  .''  "  ^  and  second,  the 
physical  agony  revealed  in  the  brief  but  awful  exclamation, 
"  I  thirst."  » 

While  believing  that  this  was  the  true  order  of  the  say- 
ing, that  the  physical  pain  was  not  mentioned  until  after 
the  cry  of  the  spiritual  anguish  had  been  uttered,  I  propose 

1  Luke  23  :  34.  «  Luke  23  :  43.  3  John  19  :  26,  27. 

*  Mark  15  :  34.  ^  John  19  :  28.  «  John  19  :  30. 

'  Luke  23  :  46.  «  Mark  15  -.  34.  9  John  19  :  28- 


The  Sufferings  of  Christ  295 

to  notice,  first,  the  words  "  I  thirst,"^  considering  them  in 
few  words,  remembering  ever,  that  silence  is  often  the 
most  perfect  exhibition  of  true  understanding  and  deep 
sympathy  ;  and  then  to  attempt  a  somewhat  closer  exami- 
nation of  that  awful  cry  of  the  spiritual  anguish,  which  re- 
vealed all  that  man  may  ever  know  of  the  mystery  of  that 
pain  by  which  He  redeemed  the  lost. 

I.  The  word  of  the  physical  agony,  "  I  thirst."  ^  What 
can  any  say  concerning  that  ?  Is  it  not  rather  subject  for 
lonely  contemplation  and  meditation  ?  It  is  hardly  possible 
to  approach  it  without  fearing  lest  the  approach  may  be 
that  of  sacrilegious  curiosity.  From  such  we  would  utterly 
be  delivered,  and  therefore  I  do  not  propose  to  dwell  for  a 
single  moment  upon  the  actual  physical  pain  of  Jesus.  The 
whole  of  it  surges  out  in  that  cry,  "  I  thirst."  To  know 
all  that  was  behind  those  words,  rather  recall  briefly, 
quietly,  and  slowly,  almost  without  comment,  the  facts  that 
had  immediately  preceded  the  Cross  : — 

The  night  watches  in  Gethsemane. 

The  flash  of  the  light  of  the  torches  upon  the  darkness 
of  the  night. 

The  kiss  of  the  traitor. 

The  arrest. 

Still  in  the  darkness  of  night,  the  arraignment  before  the 
high  priests. 

The  hours  of  waiting,  and  of  tension. 

The  appearance  in  the  morning  before  the  high  priests 
and  the  council. 

The  palace  of  the  Roman  governor  with  that  strange 
interview  between  Jesus  and  Pilate,  withdrawn  from  the 
rabble  into  some  quiet  apartment. 

•John  19:  28.  »Johni9:28. 


296  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

The  journey  from  the  house  of  Pilate  to  the  palace  of 
Herod. 

The  first  and  final  meeting  with  Herod,  the  corrupt,  the 
depraved,  Herod  who  had  so  often  sought  an  interview 
with  Him,  and  had  never  obtained  it  until  that  last  hour, 
Herod  who  never  heard  the  voice  of  Jesus,  for  to  his  curios- 
ity Christ  vouchsafed  no  single  word. 

The  rough  handling  of  Herod's  brutal  soldiery. 

The  journey  back  to  Pilate. 

The  awful  scenes  through  which  Pilate  strove  to  save 
Him,  while  priests  and  people  clamoured  for  His  blood. 

The  scourging. 

The  pathway  to  the  Cross. 

The  crucifixion. 

Hours  into  which  eternities  were  compressed  !  Through 
all  in  silence  He  endured  the  Cross,  despising  the  shame  ; 
in  silence,  with  no  word  of  complaint  and  no  word  ex- 
pressive of  pain,  "  as  a  lamb  that  is  led  to  the  slaughter, 
and  as  a  sheep  that  before  its  shearers  is  dumb,  so  He 
opened  not  His  mouth."  ^  In  the  hours  of  darkness,  three 
words  breathing  tender  interest  and  infinite  love,  one  outcry 
of  the  spirit,  and  then,  not  so  much  a  wail  as  a  smothered 
sob  of  pent-up  human  agony,  "  I  thirst  "  ;  the  very  ex- 
pression of  human  agony,  dignified,  neither  complaint  nor 
appeal,  but  simply  the  statement,  a  terrible  revelation  of 
such  suffering  as  is  beyond  explanation. 

And  now  let  it  be  remembered  that  all  this  is  outward 
and  physical,  and  human,  and  is  but  the  symbol  of  the  in- 
ward, and  spiritual,  and  Divine.  If  in  loneliness  we  pass 
over  this  pathway,  and  consider  these  scenes  in  contrition 
and  tears,  we  have  not  then  reached  the  heart  of  the  mys- 
tery.    Beyond  all  these  stretch  the  infinitudes  of  suffering. 

'  Isa.  53  :  7. 


The  Sufferings  of  Christ  297 

II.  With  sorrowful  silence  and  fearfulness  of  utterance 
we  approach  the  deepest  darkness.  "  My  God,  My  God, 
why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me  ?  "  ^  These  words  reveal  a 
mystery,  and  represent  in  mystery  a  revelation.  To  them 
we  turn  for  a  theory  of  the  Atonement,  only  to  discover 
that  theorizing  is  impossible.  Alone  in  the  supreme  hour 
in  the  history  of  the  race,  Christ  uttered  these  words,  and 
in  them  light  breaks  out,  and  yet  merges,  not  into  dark- 
ness, but  into  light  so  blinding  that  no  eye  can  bear  to  gaze. 
The  words  are  recorded,  not  to  finally  reveal,  but  to  reveal 
so  much  as  it  is  possible  for  men  to  know,  and  to  set  a  limit 
at  the  point  where  men  may  never  know.  The  words 
were  uttered  that  men  may  know,  and  that  men  may  know 
how  much  there  is  that  may  not  be  known.  In  that  strange 
cry  that  broke  from  the  lips  of  the  Master  there  are  at  least 
three  things  perfectly  clear.  Let  them  be  named  and  con- 
sidered. It  is  the  cry  of  One  Who  has  reached  the  final 
issue  of  sin.  It  is  the  cry  of  One  Who  has  fathomed  the 
deepest  depth  of  sorrow.  It  is  the  cry  of  One  Himself 
o'erwhelmed  in  the  mystery  of  silence.  Sin,  sorrow, 
silence.  Sin  at  its  final  issue,  sorrow  at  its  deepest  depth, 
silence  the  unexplainable  mystery  of  agony,  and  agony  of 
mystery.  These  are  the  facts  suggested  by  the  actual 
words.     In  that  order  let  them  be  pondered  reverently. 

"  My  God,  My  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me  ?  "  ^ 
The  logical,  irresistible,  irrevocable  issue  of  sin  is  to  be 
God-forsaken.  Sin  in  its  genesis  was  rebellion  against 
God.  Sin  in  its  harvest  is  to  be  God-abandoned.  Man 
sinned  when  he  dethroned  God  and  enthroned  himself. 
He  reaps  the  utter  harvest  of  his  sin  when  he  has  lost  God 
altogether.  That  is  the  issue  of  all  sin.  It  is  the  final 
penalty  of  sin,  penalty  not  in  the  sense  of  a  blow  inflicted 
1  Mark  15 :  34.  '  Mark  15  :  34. 


298  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

on  the  sinner  by  God,  but  in  the  sense  of  a  result  follow- 
ing upon  sin,  from  which  God  Himself  cannot  save  the 
sinner.  Sin  is  alienation  from  God  by  choice.  Hell  is  the 
utter  realization  of  that  chosen  alienation.  Sin  therefore 
at  last  is  the  consciousness  of  the  lack  of  God,  and  that 
God-forsaken  condition  is  the  penalty  of  the  sin  which  for- 
sakes  God.     Now   listen  solemnly,  and    from   that   Cross 

'  hear  the  cry,  "  My  God,  My  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken 
Me  ?  "  ^  That  is  hell.  No  other  human  being  has  ever 
been  God-forsaken  in  this  life.  Man  by  his  own  act  alien- 
ated himself  from  God,  but  God  never  left  him.  He 
brooded  over  him  with  infinite  patience  and  pity,  and  took 
man  back  to  His  heart  at  the  moment  of  the  fall,  in  virtue 
of  that  mystery  of  Calvary  which  lay  within  the  deter- 
minate counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God,  long  before  its 
outworking  in  the  history  of  the  race.  What  explanation 
can  there  be  of  this  cry  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  ?  None 
other  is  needed  than  that  declared  by  His  herald  three  years 
before,  and  considered  in  previous  studies.  "  Behold,  the 
Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world  !  "  * 
He  has  taken  hold  upon  sin.  He  has  made  it  His  own. 
He  has  accepted  the  responsibility  of  it.  He  has  passed  to 
the  ultimate  issue.  There  is  a  statement  in  the  writings 
of  Paul,  to  my  own  mind  the  most  overwhelming,  the  most 
profound  of  the  New  Testament :  "  Him  Who  knew  no 
sin  He  made  to  be  sin  on  our  behalf;  that  we  might  be- 
come the  righteousness  of  God  in  Him."^  Reverently 
hear  the  strange  and  sublime  words,  "  Him  Who  knew  no 
sin  He  made  sin."  A  man  says,  I  do  not  understand  that. 
Neither  do  I,  But  there  is  a  declaration,  and  in  the  hour 
of  the  Cross  is  the  fact.     On  that  Cross  He  was  made  sin, 

l^and  therein  He  passed  to  the  uttermost  limit  of  sin's  out- 
'  Mark  15  :  34.  ^  John  i  :  29.  ^2  Cor.  5  :  21. 


The  Sufferings  of  Christ  299 

working.  He  was  God-forsaken.  He  knew  no  sin.  He 
was  made  sin.  He  was  forsaken  of  God.  Because  He 
knew  no  sin  there  is  a  value  in  the  penalty  which  He  bore, 
that  He  does  not  need  for  Himself.  Whose  sin  is  this  that 
He  is  made,  and  for  which  He  is  forsaken  of  God  ?  My 
sin.  I  can  say  no  other  in  the  presence  of  that  sublime 
miracle.  Each  must  for  himself  stand  there  alone, — my  sin. 
He  was  made  my  sin.  If  in  passing  to  the  final  issue  of 
my  sin,  and  bearing  its  penalty,  He  created  a  value  that  He 
did  not  need  for  Himself,  for  whom  is  the  value  ?  It  also  is 
for  me.     "  He  bore  my  sin  in  His  body  upon  the  tree."  ^ 

And  yet  the  broader  fact  must  be  stated.  He  bore  the 
sin  of  the  world.  Himself  knowing  no  sin,  by  such  bear- 
ing He  created  a  value  which  He  did  not  require.  For 
whom  then  is  the  value  of  that  awful  hour  ?  For  the 
whole  world,  whose  sin  He  bore.  Behold  Him,  on  the 
Cross,  bending  His  sacred  head,  and  gathering  into  His 
heart  in  the  awful  isolation  of  separation  from  God,  the 
issue  of  the  sin  of  the  world,  and  see  how  out  of  that  ac- 
ceptance of  the  issue  of  sin  He  creates  that  which  He  does 
not  require  for  Himself,  that  He  may  distribute  to  those 
whose  place  He  has  taken. 

Turn  for  one  brief  moment  only  to  the  next  fact,  closely 
allied  to  that  already  considered,  never  to  be  separated  in 
the  final  thought,  and  only  now  taken  separately  for  the 
sake  of  examination  and  contemplation.  This  cry  is  not 
merely  that  of  One  Who  has  reached  the  final  issue  of  sin, 
but  it  is  therefore,  and  also,  the  cry  of  One  Who  has  fath- 
omed the  deepest  abyss  of  sorrow.  Sorrow  is  the  conscious- 
ness  of  lack.  What  is  the  sorrow  of  sickness  but  the  con- 
sciousness of  lack  of  health  ?  What  is  the  sorrow  of 
bereavement  but  the  consciousness  of  the  lack  of  the  loved 

'  I  Pet.  2  :  24. 


300  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

one  ?  What  is  the  sorrow  of  poverty  but  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  lack  of  the  necessities  of  life  ?  What  is 
the  sorrow  of  loneliness  but  the  consciousness  of  the 
lack  of  companionship  ?  All  sorrow  is  lack.  Then  it 
follows  by  a  natural  sequence  of  that,  that  the  uttermost 
depth  of  sorrow  is  lack  of  God.  There  is  no  sorrow  like 
it.  There  is  no  pain  comparable  to  it.  The  human 
heart  through  the  infinite  mercy  of  God  has  never  in 
this  life  really  known  this  uttermost  reach  of  sorrow. 
There  are  moments  in  life  when  it  would  seem  as  though 
God  had  hidden  His  face  as  men  pass  through  dark  ex- 
periences, but  if  He  had  actually  withdrawn  Himself,  the 
sorrow  of  the  hiding  of  His  face  would  have  been  as  noth- 
ing, to  the  sorrow  of  the  actual  absence  from  Him.  In 
this  hour  when  Jesus  was  made  sin,  and  was  therefore  God- 
forsaken, He  knew  as  none  had  ever  known,  the  profundi- 
,^ies  of  pain.  The  vision  that  had  been  His  light  through  all 
'  the  dark  days  in  the  three  and  thirty  years,  was  lost.  The 
strength  of  that  fellowship  with  the  Father  which  had  been 
His  on  every  rough  and  rugged  pathway,  was  withdrawn. 
In  perfect  harmony  with  the  purpose  of  God  He  passed 
into  the  place  of  separation  from  God,  and  in  the  awful 
cry  which  expresses  His  loneliness,  there  is  revealed  the 
most  stupendous  sorrow  that  has  ever  been  witnessed  through 
'^    the  ages. 

And  yet  once  again.  If  man  imagines  that  he  has  now 
fathomed  or  understood  the  Cross,  he  is  reminded  by  the 
very  fact,  that  this  cry  is  a  question  that  something,  per- 
chance the  mightiest  and  most  marvellous  of  all  the  facts, 
eludes  him,  and  defies  his  every  attempt  at  final  analysis. 
He  is  in  the  place  of  sin  as  to  its  final  issue,  and  in  the 
place  of  sorrow  in  its  abyssmal  depth,  and  yet  now  note 
that  while  He  states  the  fact  that  He  is  God-forsaken,  He 


The  Sufferings  of  Christ  301 

in  the  midst  of  the  experience  asks  the  question,  "Why  ?  " 
It  is  never  recorded  that  He  asked  such  a  question  before. 
Never  again  is  there  record  of  so  strange  a  fact.  In  that 
withdrawal  of  the  Divine  presence,  which  is  the  issue  of  sin, 
and  the  depth  of  sorrow,  there  is  the  enshrouding  of  the 
Spirit  of  the  Christ  in  a  great  and  awful  mystery  of  silence. 
If  these  infinitudes  may  be  measured  by  the  small  stand- 
ards of  human  individuality,  it  may  be  at  once  declared  that 
there  is  no  experience  of  life  through  which  men  pass,  so 
terrible  as  that  of  silence  and  of  mystery,  the  hours  of  iso- 
lation and  of  sorrow,  in  which  there  is  no  voice,  no  vision, 
no  sympathy,  no  promise,  no  hope,  no  explanation,  the  hours 
in  which  the  soul  asks  why.  The  river,  the  darkly  flowing 
river,  how  men  dread  it,  and  yet  there  is  something  more 
fearsome  than  the  darkly  flowing  river.  It  is  the  mist  that, 
rising  from  the  river,  wraps  men  round  in  its  chill  embrace, 
until  they  do  not  know  where  they  stand,  or  where  the 
river  is.  There  is  no  agony  for  the  human  soul  like  that 
of  silence.  The  perfect  One,  made  sin,  and  suffering  all 
sorrow,  had  reached  that  place  of  silence  and  of  mystery. 
Who  shall  explain  it  ?  I  cannot.  When  I  am  asked  for 
a  theory  of  the  Atonement  I  ever  reply  that  in  the  midst  of 
the  mighty  movement,  the  Lord  Himself  said  "  Why  ?  " 
and  if  He  asked  that  question,  I  dare  not  imagine  that  I 
can  ever  explain  the  deep  central  verities  of  His  mystery 
of  pain.  Men  stand  outside  the  circle  of  that  incompre- 
hensible agony,  they  behold  Him  forsaken  of  God,  at  the 
uttermost  issue  of  sin,  in  the  deepest  profundities  of  sor- 
row, in  the  mystery  of  an  awful  silence,  and  all  this  as  they 
hear  Him  say,  "  My  God,  My  God,  why  hast  Thou  for- 
saken Me  ?  "  ^  Let  there  be  no  attempt  to  penetrate  further 
into  that  hallowed  and  awful  realm. 

J  Mark  15  :  34. 


302  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

And  yet  the  subject  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ  cannot  be 
so  left.  Standing  overwhelmed  in  the  presence  of  these 
sufferings,  feeling  increasingly  man's  utter  inability  to  un- 
derstand or  explain,  with  a  great  sense  of  might  and  majesty 
overwhelming  us,  we  hear  the  next  words  that  pass  His 
lips.  "  It  is  finished." '  Immediately  the  heart  sings  a 
new  song, — 

"  O  Jesus,  Lord  !  'tis  joy  to  know 
Thy  path  is  o'er  of  shame  and  woe, 
For  us  so  meekly  trod." 

How  in  the  depth  of  the  darkness  the  mighty  work  was 
accomplished,  men  will  never  perfectly  understand.  Eter- 
nity cannot  suffice  for  the  unfolding  of  the  dread  mystery 
of  the  passion,  but  this  is  known,  "  He  bare  my  sins  in  His 
body  upon  the  tree,"  ^  He  stood  where  man  should  have  stood. 
The  pains  of  hell  that  were  man's  portion,  gat  hold  on  Him, 
and  man  passes  into  the  light  of  the  heaven  which  was  His 
by  right,  and  which  He  brings  to  him. 

Such  were  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  so  far  as  we  have 
been  allowed  to  come  near  them  in  the  inspired  narrative. 
What  have  we  seen  ?  So  little  and  yet  so  much.  Unable 
to  appreciate  all  the  meaning  of  the  words,  yet  great  facts 
now  shine  in  radiant  revelation,  and  from  the  study  we  may 
make  statements  which  constitute  the  evangel  of  hope  and 
of  power.  These  deductions  may  be  expressed  in  old 
words,  the  theological  words  of  our  fathers.  I  pray  God 
that  we  may  restore  them.  I  would  not  plead  for  the  res- 
toration of  mistaken  interpretation  of  the  words,  but  that 
we  may  lay  hold  upon  them  in  their  true  and  infinite 
value. 

Gazing  then  in  astonishment  at  the  sufferings  of  Christ 

»  John  19  :  30;  2  I  Peter  2  :  24. 


The  Sufferings  of  Christ  303 

I  declare  them  to  have  been  vicarious  sufferings,  expiatory 
sufferings,  atoning  sufferings. 

They  were  vicarious  sufferings,  for  He  stood  in  man's 
place  when    He   suffered.     The  penalty   He  bore  had  no 
relation  to  the  life  as  lived.      He  stood  connected  with  all 
human  sin  and  failure,  and  seeing  that  He  bore  it,  man  is^ 
delivered  from  it. 

They  were  expiatory  sufferings.  Through  what  He 
bore,  He  exhausted  human  sin.  He  put  it  away,  He  made 
it  not  to  be. 

They  were  atoning  sufferings  in  that  through  them  He 
has  dealt  with  all  that  separated  between  man  and  God. 
He  has  now  made  possible  the  restoration  of  the  lost  fel- 
lowship, and  man  may  henceforth  live  in  communion  with 
Him. 

Thus  has  He  solved  the  problems  first  suggested.  By 
the  way  of  that  Cross,  and  by  that  way  alone,  God  may  be 
just,  that  is,  true  to  Himself  in  nature ;  and  justify  the  sin- 
ner, that  is,  place  man  into  the  position  of  one  for  whom 
sin  is  made  not  to  be,  and  who  is  therefore  clear  from  guilt. 

The  second  problem  is  assuredly  solved  by  the  mystery 
of  the  Cross,  as  will  be  more  fully  seen  when  contem- 
plating His  resurrection.  As  He  passes  out  of  death.  He 
comes  into  a  new  life  which  He  may  now  communicate, 
and  which  is  to  be  for  paralyzed  men  a  new  dynamic  and  a 
new  purity,  in  the  power  of  which  all  life  may  be  trans- 
formed, and  all  victories  won. 

Thus  we  have  foregathered  on  the  outer  margin  of  that 
deep  sea  of  sorrow  through  which  the  God-man  wrought 
with  God,  though  for  a  while  in  separation  from  the  con- 
sciousness of  His  presence,  a  redemption  which  meets  all 
difficulties,  and  solves  all  problems,  and  opens  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  to  all  believers. 


XXII 

SIN  UNVEILED;  GRACE  OUTSHINING 

Would  we  know  the  true  nature  of  sin,  and  the  deepest 
facts  concerning  the  grace  of  God,  we  must  come  to  the 
Cross.  In  Peter's  first  message  after  Pentecost,  referring 
to  the  Cross  he  said  :  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  a  Man  approved 
of  God  unto  you  by  mighty  works  and  wonders  and  signs 
which  God  did  by  Him  in  the  midst  of  you,  even  as  ye 
yourselves  know ;  Him,  being  delivered  up  by  the  determi- 
nate counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God,  ye  by  the  hand  of 
lawless  men  did  crucify  and  slay."  ^  Herein  is  a  most  re- 
markable statement,  declaring  two  facts  concerning  the 
Cross,  which  seem  to  contradict  each  other,  but  yet  which 
reveal  the  actual  causes  of  the  Cross.  "  Delivered  by  the 
determinate  counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God."  Therein 
is  declared  the  purpose  and  action  of  that  grace  which  lies 
at  the  back  of  the  whole  plan  of  redemption.  "  Ye  by  the 
hand  of  lawless  men  did  crucify  and  slay."  Therein  is 
contained  a  statement  of  how  God's  plan  was  carried  out 
in  history  by  the  very  principle  of  lawlessness,  which  His 
grace  operating  through  the  Cross  contradicted  and  over- 
came. The  first  declaration  is  that  of  the  cause  of  the 
Cross  from  the  Godward  side,  and  in  the  light  of  it  the 
Cross  is  seen  as  the  epiphany  of  grace.  The  second  state- 
ment is  the  cause  of  the  Cross  so  far  as  man  was  con- 
cerned, and  in  the  light  of  it  the  Cross  is  seen  as  the  reve- 
'  Acts  2  :  22,  23. 
304 


Sin  Unveiled;  Grace  Outshining         305 

lation  of  human  degradation.  These  facts  of  the  unmask- 
ing of  sin,  and  the  unveiling  of  the  Divine  heart  are  now 
to  receive  attention. 

In  the  fact  of  the  Saviour's  sufferings,  sin  deepened  into 
densest  darkness,  and  grace  broke  forth  in  brightest  bril- 
liance. In  the  strange  mystery  upon  vv^hich  vi^e  have  al- 
ready reverently  looked,  sin  and  love  met  in  fiercest  con- 
flict. All  other  forces  were  withdrawn,  and  alone  in  a 
death  grapple  in  the  darkness,  sin  took  hold  on  love,  and 
love  took  hold  on  sin.  The  issue  of  the  conflict  is  not 
now  the  subject  of  consideration,  but  only  the  contempla- 
tion of  the  opposing  forces,  as  seen  in  this  supreme  hour. 
Love  incarnate  has  taken  hold  upon  sin,  and  the  issue  must 
be  a  decisive  victory  for  one  or  the  other.  In  this  hour  sin 
or  grace  will  triumph  forever.  If  sin  and  grace  are  seen 
as  here  revealed,  there  will  be  no  possibility  of  mistake  as 
to  the  nature  of  both.  Whoever  may  be  inclined  to  judge 
sin  by  the  superficial  measurements  of  much  so-called  new 
thought,  should  be  brought  back  to  the  Cross  for  a  revela- 
tion of  its  true  nature  ;  and  all  those,  moreover,  who  would 
confine  the  river  of  grace  within  small  human  channels, 
should  stand  again  in  the  presence  of  the  Cross  for  an  un- 
derstanding of  the  irresistible  sweep  and  might  of  this  river 
of  life,  flowing  from  the  throne  of  God. 

Let  us  then  examine  sin  and  grace  as  here  revealed,  in 
each  case  considermg  the  essence,  the  expression,  and  the 
end. 

I.  These  studies  are  unified  in  certain  directions  by  the 
analysis  of  human  personality,  which  was  accepted  at  the 
beginning.  In  speaking  of  the  essence  of  sin  as  revealed 
in  the  Cross,  therefore,  it  will  be  considered  in  the  realm  of 
the  intelligence,  the  emotion,  and  the  will  of  man,  taking 


306  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

these  in  the  reverse  order.  As  at  the  first,  man's  sin 
proceeded  through  the  avenue  of  the  darkening  of  the 
intelligence,  the  deadening  of  the  emotion,  and  the 
degradation  of  the  will,  so  here  is  the  ultimate  expres- 
sion of  degraded  will,  deadened  emotion,  and  darkened 
intelligence. 

The  casting  out  of  Jesus  on  the  Cross  was  the  protest  of 
license  against  law.  It  was  the  most  daring  act  of  man  in 
his  revolt  against  the  government  of  God.  The  Cross  was 
man's  response  to  the  fact  intimated  in  the  superscription 
which  Pilate  in  mockery  of  those  Jews  had  written  and 
placed  over  His  head.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
Roman  governor  was  far  more  angry  with  the  priests  than 
with  Jesus,  and  yet  driven  by  the  false  principle  of  ex- 
pediency. He  handed  Christ  to  crucifixion,  and  in  doing  so 
mocked  the  men  that  had  clamoured  for  the  blood  of  the 
Nazarene,  by  placing  over  His  head  in  letters  of  Hebrew, 
and  Latin,  and  Greek  the  words,  "  This  is  Jesus  the 
King  of  the  Jews."  ^  Thus  from  whatever  cause,  man 
wrote  above  the  Cross  the  supreme  fact,  and  in  the  Cross 
expressed  his  attitude  towards  it. 

At  the  time  of  Christ's  life  and  death,  the  three  great 
world  forces  were  all  represented  in  that  little  land  of 
Palestine,and  it  is  not  without  deep  significance  that  over 
His  Cross  these  words  were  written  in  letters  of  Hebrew, 
and  Latin,  and  Greek,  the  national  language,  the  official 
language,  the  common  language ;  the  language  of  religion, 
the  language  of  government,  and  the  language  of  culture. 
The  attitude  of  all  the  forces  represented  by  these  things 
was  antagonistic  to  Christ.  Out  of  the  religion  of  the 
time,  the  Hebrew,  arose  the  inspiration  of  the  crucifixion, 
while  the  power  of  the  time,  the  Roman,  was  the  agent  for 
"  Matt.  27  :  37. 


Sin  Unveiled;  Grace  Outshining         307 

its  execution,  and  the  culture  of  the  time,  the  Greek,  was 
scornfully  indifferent  to  Him  and  His  claims.  Sinful 
religion  rejected  Him,  sinful  power  murdered  Him,  sinful 
culture  neglected  Him.  He  was  cast  out.  The  reason  is 
to  be  found  in  the  burden  of  His  ministry  as  revealed  in  the 
first  word  of  His  preaching,  the  word  "  repent."  In  the 
uttering  of  this  word.  He  called  all  men  to  a  course  of  life 
exactly  opposite  to  that  being  pursued.  This  first  note  of 
His  message  was  a  criticism  and  condemnation  of  all  things 
as  He  found  them.  He  practically  declared  that  man  had 
lost  the  true  centre  of  his  life,  and  that  all  the  lines  of 
human  activity  were  proceeding  in  wrong  directions.  In 
the  statement  which  immediately  followed  the  first  word, 
He  revealed  the  nature  of  the  wrong  and  of  the  right,  "  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand."  ^  This  word  is  a  declara- 
tion of  the  departure  of  man  from  the  Divine  government. 
It  was  an  announcement,  moreover,  of  the  setting  up  of 
that  government,  and  the  whole  burden  of  His  preaching 
was  that  of  a  call  to  men  to  submit  to  God.  It  was  a 
stern,  severe,  revolutionary  cry  that  He  sent  ringing  forth 
over  all  the  manners  and  methods  of  men.  The  sternness 
was  that  of  a  great  love,  the  severity  was  that  of  a  great 
tenderness,  the  revolution  was  that  of  restoration.  Men 
did  not  understand  this.  They  recognized  the  meaning  of 
the  word,  and  the  nature  of  the  call.  They  knew  that  if 
they  listened  and  obeyed,  the  whole  current  of  life  would 
be  changed  as  to  course,  because  changed  at  the  centre. 
There  was  no  apology  in  the  preaching  of  Jesus.  He  did 
not  submit  to  men  a  proposal  which  they  might  discuss  and 
vote  upon.  He  spoke  with  authority,  and  not  as  the 
scribes,  and  the  great  burden  of  His  message  as  men  heard 
it,  is  perfectly  expressed  in  that  one  word,  "  Repent." 
>  Matt.  4:  17. 


3o8  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Through  the  years  of  His  public  ministry,  they  criticised 
Him,  they  entered  into  conflict  with  Him,  they  endeavoured 
to  entrap  Him  in  His  talk,  and  at  last  they  gave  their  final 
answer  to  His  message,  and  the  answer  was  the  Cross.  If 
Calvary's  Cross  means  anything,  it  means  that  men  have 
said.  We  decline  to  repent,  we  will  not  have  this  Man  to 
reign  over  us,  we  will  not  submit  ourselves  to  the  Divine 
government. 

Jesus  had  come  into  the  world  for  the  restoration  of  the 
lost  order.  In  the  midst  of  the  chaos  that  He  found.  He 
uttered  the  first  word,  "  repent,"  and  then  enunciated  the 
principles  of  life  within  the  Kingdom  of  God,  proceeding 
to  illustrate  the  breadth  and  beauty  and  beneficence  of  that 
kingdom,  by  all  the  deeds  of  tenderness  and  of  love  with 
which  He  filled  the  days.  Men  appreciated  the  benefits, 
but  declined  to  submit  to  the  authority.  There  is  one 
startling  instance  of  the  attitude  of  man  towards  Christ. 
He  passed  over  into  the  country  of  the  Gadarenes,  and  at 
once  came  into  contact  with  a  man  who  must  have  been  the 
very  plague  of  the  whole  life  of  the  district.  He  freed  him 
from  the  possession  of  the  evil  spirits,  and  in  the  account 
of  how  the  men  who  watched  the  working  of  His  mighty 
power  told  the  story  in  the  city,  there  is  this  somewhat 
strange  and  yet  revealing  statement,  "  They  .  .  .  told 
everything,  and "  Is  it  then  possible  to  tell  "every- 
thing, and "  ?  What  can  there  be  to  tell,  when  every- 
thing is  told  ?  Now  hear  the  whole  statement,  "  They 
.  .  .  told  everything,  and  what  had  befallen "  to  the 
man  "  possessed  with  devils."  ^  Now  mark  this  inversion 
of  values.  What  was  the  "  everything  "•  in  the  sight  of 
these  men  r  The  destruction  of  their  pigs.  What  was 
the  "  and  "  ?  A  man  was  delivered  from  demon  posses- 
'  Matt,  8 :  23- 


Sin  Unveiled;  Grace  Outshining         309 

sion,  and  set  upright  in  the  dignity  of  his  manhood.  Is  it 
to  be  thought  for  a  single  moment  that  these  men  did  not 
desire  the  benefit  offered  in  the  casting  out  of  devils  ? 
There  is  no  doubt  that  they  would  gladly  have  accepted 
all  such  benefits,  and  yet  it  is  written, "  they  besought  Him 
that  He  would  depart  from  their  borders."  '  What  can 
the  explanation  of  such  strange  conduct  be  ?  This  simply. 
They  were  not  prepared  to  pay  the  price.  This  is  not  the 
occasion  upon  which  to  enter  into  any  discussion  of  the 
vexed  question  as  to  our  Lord's  permitted  destruction  of 
the  swine.  It  is  enough  that  He  permitted  it  to  vindicate 
the  action.  And  yet  it  may  be  declared  in  a  sentence  that 
at  this  period  Jesus  was  exercising  His  Jewish  Messiahship, 
and  when  He  permitted  the  devils  to  destroy  the  swine,  He 
but  rebuked  an  unholy  traffic,  forbidden  among  these  people 
whose  Messiah  He  was.  They  fain  would  have  the  bene- 
fits of  the  kingdom,  but  this  revolutionary  interference  with 
their  profits  they  were  not  prepared  to  tolerate.  This  is 
but  illustration  of  the  fact  evident  through  all  His  ministry, 
which  had  its  final  expression  in  the  Cross.  Men  were 
determined  to  silence  His  voice,  because  they  would  not 
submit  to  that  actual  Kingdom  of  God  which  He  pro- 
claimed among  them.  The  Cross  is  the  incontrovertible 
proof  that  sin  has  degraded  man's  will. 

Few  words  need  be  uttered  to  prove  that  the  Cross  is 
the  supreme  evidence  of  the  prostitution  of  emotion.  If 
it  be  indeed  true  that  the  same  capacity  operates  along  the 
lines  of  love  and  hate,  then  of  all  fearful  revelations  of 
prostituted  emotion,  there  is  none  equal  to  the  Cross  of 
Jesus.  There,  in  all  the  details,  is  an  expression  of  the 
brutal  and  barbarous  in  human  life,  such  as  the  world  has 
never  seen  at  any  other  point. 

>  Matt.  8  :  34. 


310 


The  Crises  of  the  Christ 


But  was  not  this  also  the  revelation  of  the  darkening  of 
human  intelligence  ?  There  is  nothing  more  patent  in  the 
Cross  than  the  blindness  of  the  sin  which  erected  it,  both 
as  to  immediate  interests,  and  as  to  far-reaching  issues. 
What  utter  folly  was  this  murder  of  the  Emancipator,  the 
giving  over  to  death  of  the  Life-giver,  the  whelming  in 
darkness  of  the  one  and  only  Light  of  life.  Thus  the 
essence  of  sin  is  revealed  in  the  Cross,  as  madness,  and 
hatred,  and  rebellion. 

This  statement  will  cover  also  the  fact,  as  the  considera- 
tion leading  to  it  has  already  covered  the  subject,  of  the 
expression  of  sin. 

Sin  as  the  rebellion  of  the  will  expressed  itself  finally  in 
the  murder  of  God's  anointed  King.  Sin  as  degraded  emo- 
tion expressed  itself  most  fully  in  the  refined  cruelty  and 
malicious  brutality  of  the  whole  process  by  which  Christ 
was  apprehended  and  cast  out.  Sin  as  darkened  intelli- 
gence expressed  itself  most  surely  when  it  found  no  room 
in  its  counsels  for  the  Voice  which  alone  was  that  of  per- 
fect wisdom. 

What  then  was  the  end  of  sin  as  expressed  in  the  Cross  ? 
The  rejection  of  the  King,  the  destruction  of  the  Priest, 
the  silencing  of  the  Prophet.  The  exercising  of  authority 
must  not  be  permitted,  so  sin  murdered  the  King.  Man's 
return  to  God  must  be  prevented,  so  the  great  High  Priest 
was  refused.  The  shining  of  light  upon  the  darkness  sin 
loved,  must  not  be  allowed,  so  the  voice  of  the  Prophet 
was  silenced.  Thus  sin  has  finally  expressed  itself  in 
anarchy,  for  the  King  is  dethroned  ;  in  irreligion,  for  the 
Priest  is  destroyed ;  in  ignorance,  for  the  Prophet  is 
silenced. 

n.     There  is,  however,  another  side  to  the  Cross,  and  to  it 


sin  Unveiled;  Grace  Outshining         311 

we  turn  with  great  gladness  of  heart,  for  therein  is  revealed 
the  grace  of  God  answering  and  triumphing  over  every- 
thing that  sirt  is.  Grace  in  the  Cross  is  the  assertion  of 
the  unquestioning  authority  of  God.  It  is  the  revelation 
and  working  of  His  unquenchable  love.  It  is  the  out- 
shining of  His  unclouded  wisdom. 

First,  grace  asserted  itself  in  unquestioning  authority. 
It  asked  no  permission.  It  took  no  counsel  with  man.  It 
moved  along  the  line  of  a  great  right  and  authority,  in 
spite  of  man's  willful  rebellion  against  the  throne.  Man 
had  not  dethroned  God  when  he  erected  the  Cross,  neither 
did  man  destroy  God's  King  therein.  God  is  love,  and 
He  did  not  abandon  man,  even  when  man  abandoned  Him. 
That  is  the  great  lesson  of  the  Cross.  Men  said.  We  will 
not  be  governed  by  God,  and  yet  there  in  the  Cross  ex- 
pressing that  attitude,  love  is  seen  still  retaining  the  throne, 
still  holding  the  reins  of  government,  still  declaring  to  men 
that  without  Him  they  can  do  nothing.  Apart  from  His 
authority,  they  are  hopelessly  and  forever  ruined.  Even 
in  the  blood-baptism  of  that  awful  passion,  in  which  man's 
sin  has  declared  its  refusal  of  God,  God  enthrones  Him- 
self, and  asserts  the  will  of  essential  love  as  superior  to  the 
will  of  rebellion.  Never  for  one  moment  did  He  vacate 
the  throne.  Men  cast  His  appointed  King  out  into  dark- 
ness, but  in  the  darkness  He  was  still  the  King,  and  prose- 
cuted His  reign  in  love.  It  was  not  merely  the  enforce- 
ment of  authority.  It  was  not  merely  an  insistence  upon 
government.  It  was'  not  merely  the  defence  of  a  right,  for 
it  seems  as  though  if  these  had  been  all,  God  might  have 
established  all  these  things  by  ridding  Himself  of  man. 
These  are  not  the  principles  vindicated  and  revealed  in  the 
Cross.  The  Cross  is  the  insistence  of  love.  It  is  the 
persistence  of  love.     It  is  love  that  holds  the  throne  in  the 


312  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

darkness.  But  for  love  there  would  have  been  no  Cross. 
Every  violated  fact  within  the  Divine  purpose  might  have 
been  reestablished  by  the  destruction  of  that  which  had  so 
signally  and  awfully  failed.  Love  by  determinate  counsel 
and  foreknowledge  permits  man  to  express  his  sin  in  the 
Cross }  and  in  that  very  act  of  full  and  final  expression, 
grace  occupies  the  throne,  sways  the  sceptre,  and  reveals, 
as  in  no  other  way,  the  authority  of  God,  and  its  reason  of 
love. 

For  one  moment,  to  slightly  change  the  angle  of  obser- 
vation, let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  that  Cross  of  Jesus 
God  expressed  His  unqualified  hatred  of  sin.  The  very 
fires  that  burn  the  sacrifice  were  the  fires  of  His  wrath 
against  all  evil.  The  fierceness  of  the  flame  was  created 
by  the  intensity  of  love.  God  will  not  be  dethroned, 
though  His  enthronement  cost  Him  the  Son  of  His  love  ; 
and  therein  is  most  awfully  visible  the  severity  and  the 
judgment  of  God.  Yet  that  severity  and  judgment  can 
never  be  understood  save  as  it  is  clearly  recognized  that 
the  force  of  them  is  His  compassion.  Of  this  there  is  no 
perfect  illustration  other  than  the  Cross  itself.  Let  me  at- 
tempt one  faint  and  far-away,  and  yet  perhaps  appealing  to 
us  in  the  realm  in  which  we  most  perfectly  find  an  expres- 
sion of  human  love.  Once  it  was  my  lot  to  see  a  mother 
snatch  up  her  child  from  a  railway  track,  just  as  the  rush- 
ing train  was  almost  upon  it.  I  do  not  know  that  I  ever 
saw  anything  much  more  roughly  done.  The  mother  was 
transformed  for  the  moment  into  a  veritable  fury,  as  she 
caught  up  the  child  with  hands  that  must  have  bruised  it 
and  carried  it  out  of  danger.  Yet  never  did  I  see  love 
more  radiant  than  in  the  wild  fury  of  that  mother.  How 
imperfect  the  illustration  none  can  be  more  conscious  than 
am   L     I  lift   my  eyes  again  to  the  Cross,  and  this  I  see. 


Sin  Unveiled;  Grace  Outshining         313 

that  in  the  mystery  of  its  unfathomable  anguish  I  discover 
that  God  will  not  b^  dethroned,  though  all  hell  be  against 
Him,  and  this  because  of  His  mighty  love.  Let  me  utter 
it  slowly  and  carefully,  and  yet  out  of  my  profoundest 
heart,  if  there  be  nothing  to  vindicate  but  His  authority, 
then  there  is  no  necessity  for  the  Cross  ;  for  the  vindica- 
tion of  justice,  or  judgment,  or  righteousness,  or  holiness 
in  the  last  analysis  may  be  realized  by  the  destruction  of 
man.  In  such  destruction,  however,  love  would  have  been 
defeated,  and  for  the  vindication  of  that  love,  and  what  is 
infinitely  more  than  its  vindication,  for  its  own  satisfaction, 
He  will  not  permit  man  to  dethrone  Him.  Amid  the 
depth  of  the  darkness  of  Calvary  it  is  grace  that  triumphs 
in  a  great  authority.  He  will  not  consult  with  man  in  his 
folly,  but  He  will  retain  the  throne  for  very  love  of  the 
foolish  one.  God  found  even  in  the  midst  of  the  ruin  the 
possibility  of  redemption,  and  while  God  in  Christ — for 
They  cannot  be  separated — became  the  butt  of  brutal 
malice.  He  responded  with  tenderness  ;  and  when  man's  sin 
has  done  its  worst  in  nailing  Christ  to  the  Cross  with  law- 
less hands,  in  that  very  Cross  God  plants  the  kiss  of  for- 
giveness upon  the  face  of  the  murderers.  It  is  the  mag- 
nificent and  majestic  authority  of  love.  He  will  love. 
We  cannot  prevent  Him  loving,  and  let  me  add  reverently 
to  that  statement.  He  cannot  help  loving  because  He  is 
Love.  Love  is  stronger  than  death,  mightier  than  the 
grave.  Many  waters  cannot  quench  love.  That  is  the 
anthem  of  the  Cross.  God  retains  the  throne  of  authority 
because  of  His  infinite  love.  He  will  never  cease  to  love 
a  single  soul  He  has  created. 

In  that  Cross,  moreover,  there  is  revealed  the  unclouded 
wisdom  of  God.  Seeing  all  that  man  in  his  blindness 
failed  to  see,  and  knowing  perfectly  the  whole  fact  of  the 


2 14  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

depravity  wrought  by  man,  He  yet  originated  and  carried 
out  a  plan  of  redemption  so  wonderful  that  the  very  un- 
fallen  intelligences  of  the  upper  world  have  ever  desired  to 
look  into  this  great  mystery  of  wisdom,  and  no  man  has 
been  able  perfectly  to  fathom  its  depths.  To  the  Jews  a 
stumbling-block,  something  in  the  way  over  which  they 
fall ;  to  the  Greeks  utter  foolishness ;  and  yet  blessed  be 
God,  both  to  Jew  and  Greek,  not  only  power,  but  wisdom. 
What  wondrous  words  were  those  that  passed  the  lips  of 
Jesus.  "  It  is  finished."  ^  What  is  finished  ?  Sin  was 
finished  as  to  its  power  to  work  the  final  ruin  of  any  man. 
In  the  mystery  of  the  passion  of  Jesus,  sin  which  had 
mastered  men,  and  held  them  in  slavery,  was  in  turn  mas- 
tered and  robbed  of  its  force.  Whatever  bruised,  broken, 
beaten  slave  of  sin  will  but  hide  in  the  cleft  of  that  rock, 
and  trust  in  the  Crucified,  for  such  an  one  sin  is  no  more 
master.  To  the  truth  of  this  statement,  testimony  can  be 
borne  by  the  great  multitudes  of  men  and  women  who, 
standing  at  the  Cross,  have  said,  and  still  can  say.  The  im- 
possible has  become  possible,  for  all  the  forces  of  sin  have 
been  broken  by  the  way  of  this  victory  of  grace.  Sin  as  a 
force  that  ruins,  is  ended  in  the  Cross.  It  is  not  ended  any- 
where else.  If  men  will  not  come  into  relation  with  that 
Cross,  then  sin  is  still  an  element  of  force,  so  great  that  no 
man  is  equal  to  its  overcoming.  In  the  cleft  rock  there  is 
perfect  security  and  perfect  victory.  "  It  is  finished,"  said 
the  Master,  and  because  He  meant  that  sin  was  finished. 
He  meant  that  the  work  was  finished  through  which  grace 
might  flow  out  like  a  river. 

Not  very  long  ago  in  London  on  a  cold  raw  winter 
day,  in  the  midst  of  the  squalour  and  the  degradation  of 
the  East  End,  I  saw  a  little  group  of  Salvationists,  and  I 

'  John  19  :  30. 


Sin  Unveiled;  Grace  Outshining         315 

heard  them  sing,  and  never  anthem  sounded  half  so  sweet. 
These  were  the  words  : — 

"  Grace  is  flowing  like  a  river, 

Millions  there  have  been  supplied. 
Still  it  flows  as  fresh  as  ever 

From  the  Saviour's  wounded  side." 

Did  I  hear  some  one  say  something  about  doggerel  ?  It  is 
the  poetry  of  heaven.  Did  some  one  ask  as  to  the  balance 
of  the  music  ?  It  had  in  it  all  the  harmonies  of  the  heart 
of  God.  Grace  is  flowing  like  a  river.  How  is  it  that 
grace  is  thus  flowing  for  the  healing  and  the  uplifting  of 
men  ?  Because  Jesus  has  said,  "  It  is  finished."  He  ac- 
complished the  work  that  made  possible  the  outflowing  of 
this  river  of  God. 

Let  us  pause  for  a  moment.  Is  some  soul  conscious  of 
sin  that  masters,  of  pollution  that  blights  ?  The  river  is 
flowing  even  here  and  now,  and  you  may  be  cleansed,  puri- 
fied, saved.  Oh,  the  matchless  splendour  of  this  outshin- 
ing grace !  In  that  Cross  in  very  deed  we  see  the  deepest 
meaning  of  sin,  and  the  fullest  force  of  grace.  There  sin 
refuses  God's  King.     There  grace  announces  — 

"  Jesus  shall  reign  where'er  the  sun 
Doth  his  successive  journeys  run."  > 

There  sin  manifested  its  prostitution  of  emotion  in  the 
brutality  of  an  awful  tragedy.  There  grace  through  the 
untold  abyss  of  suffering  smiled  back  with  love  ineffable, 
until  the  very  murderers  of  Christ  found  the  highway  open 
to  the  heart  of  God.  There  sin  in  its  ignorant  madness 
put  out  the  light  of  life.  There  grace  in  infinite  wisdom 
shone  through  the  gloom  and  there  fell  upon  the  pathway 
of  the  race  the  light  that  leads  to  God. 

>  Watts. 


3i6  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Oh,  wondrous  Cross  !  Therein  sin  rejected  the  King, 
and  grace  crowned  Him.  Therein  sin  destroyed  the  Priest, 
and  grace  through  the  Priest  made  atonement.  Therein 
sin  silenced  the  voice  of  the  Prophet,  and  grace  caught  up 
the  message  and  repeated  it  to  all  the  race,  for  a  new  law 
of  life  and  love.  In  the  Cross  I  see  my  sin.  In  the  Cross 
1  see  God's  grace.  And,  hear  me,  His  grace  is  mightier 
than  my  sin,  for  '■'■  where  sin  abounded  grace  did  abound 
more  exceedingly."  ^  Yet  let  me  try  to  show  that  I  cannot 
put  all  into  it  that  is  suggested  by  it.  Did  you  ever  watch 
the  children  playing  on  the  seashore  ?  How  have  I 
watched  them,  the  golden-haired,  laughing-eyed,  dimple- 
fisted  darlings  !  I  ask  this  little  group  what  they  are  doing, 
and  they  tell  me  that  they  are  digging  a  big  hole.  What 
for,  I  say  to  them,  and  they  reply,  We  want  to  see  if  the 
sea  can  fill  it.  The  hole  is  dug,  and  the  bairns  stand  on 
the  mounds  of  sand,  and  I  wait  with  them.  We  wait  and 
watch  and  wonder  as  the  waves  come  nearer  in,  those  white 
horses  of  the  mighty  deep,  and  at  last  one,  the  seventh, 
perchance,  stronger  and  bigger  than  his  brothers,  breaks  up, 
and  over  the  hole  with  the  sweet  swish  of  summer  music, 
and  I  look  and  they  look.  What  has  happened  ?  Is  the 
hole  filled  ?  More  exceedingly,  more  exceedingly  !  And 
the  sea  is  yet  behind  !  "  Where  sin  abounded  grace  did 
abound  more  exceedingly."  * 

>  Rom.  5  :  20.  2  Rom.  5  :  20. 


XXIII 
THE  KINGLY  EXODUS 

Having  traced  the  very  evident  revelation  of  our  Lord's 
consciousness  of  the  coming  Cross  during  the  three  years 
of  His  public  ministry,  and  having  endeavoured,  moreover, 
reverently  to  come  as  near  to  that  Cross  as  it  is  right  that 
we  should  in  contemplation  of  His  suffering,  and  having 
stood  before  the  Cross  and  considered  its  revelation  of  sin 
and  grace,  we  are  now  to  approach  it  from  a  new  standpoint. 

This  study  is  devoted  to  a  consideration  of  the  Cross  in 
relation  to  the  Kingly  position  of  Christ,  and  in  the  course 
of  it  we  shall  endeavour  to  observe  Him  as  He  wins  the 
victory  which  issued  in  the  redemption  of  His  people  from 
the  slavery  of  a  false  authority,  and  opened  the  way  into  a 
new  land  of  freedom  under  government. 

The  slavery  of  sin  is  a  part  of  its  penalty.  When  man 
yielded  himself  to  sin,  he  became  the  servant  of  sin.  By 
the  way  of  the  Cross  the  King  made  provision  by  which  man 
could  be  redeemed  from  that  slavery.  In  the  mystery  of  His 
passion,  the  King  led  the  exodus  of  all  such  as  following 
Him,  leave  forever  behind  them  the  tasks  and  taskmasters 
of  evil,  and  pass  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children 
of  God. 

In  Luke's  account  of  the  transfiguration  we  read,  "  And 
behold,  there  talked  with  Him  two  men,  who  were  Moses 
and  Elijah;  who  appeared  in  glory,  and  spake  of  His  de- 
cease which  He  was  about  to  accomplish  at  Jerusalem."  * 
»  Luke  9 :  30,  31. 

317 


3i8  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

The  writer  of  the  letter  to  the  Hebrews  says,  "  By  faith 
Joseph,  when  his  end  was  nigh,  made  mention  of  the  de- 
cease of  the  children  of  Israel."  ^  The  word  used  by  our 
translators  is  not  the  word  "  decease,"  but  "  departure," 
and  such  translation  is  undoubtedly  correct.  The  word 
translated  "  departure  "  in  Hebrews  is  the  identical  word 
translated  "  decease  "  in  Luke,  and  a  more  literal  transla- 
tion of  the  Greek  word  in  each  case  would  convey  the 
correct  meaning  on  both  occasions,  that  word  being  i$63ov. 
The  simplest  translation  would  be  in  the  use  of  our  word 
exodus.  Use  the  word  exodus  in  both  connections,  and  it 
will  be  seen  how  it  perfectly  fits  each  :  "  Behold,  there 
talked  with  Him  two  men,  who  were  Moses  and  Elijah  ; 
who  appeared  in  glory,  and  spake  of  His  exodus  which  He 
was  about  to  accomplish  at  Jerusalem."  "  By  faith 
Joseph,  when  his  end  was  nigh,  made  mention  of  the 
exodus  of  the  children  of  Israel."  Peter,  in  referring  to 
his  own  approaching  end  wrote,  "Yea,  I  will  give  diligence 
that  at  every  time  ye  may  be  able  after  my  departure  to  call 
these  things  to  remembrance."  ^  Here  again  we  have 
altered  the  word,  for  it  is  translated  "  decease."  In  the 
alteration  on  this  occasion  no  incongruity  was  discovered. 
Here  again  adopt  the  suggested  word,  "  Yea,  I  will  give 
diligence  that  at  every  time  ye  may  be  able  after  my 
exodus."  This  word  k^odov  only  occurs  in  the  New 
Testament  on  these  three  occasions.  It  is  a  word  which 
means  very  literally,  a  highway  out  of,  and  so  in  use,  a 
going  out.  This  is  the  word  which  describes  the  subject 
of  conversation  between  Jesus,  and  Moses  and  Elijah. 
The  word  "decease  "  is  not  wrong,  always  providing  that 
it  is  understood  correctly.  It  is  derived  from  the  Latin 
word  "  decessus,"  which  means  a  going  from,  so  that  the  true 

'  Heb.   II :  22.  '2  Pet.  1 :  15. 


The  Kingly  Exodus  319 

meaning  of  the  word  decease  is  not  death,  as  cessation  of 
being,  but  a  going  out,  or  liberation  of  life.  This  decease 
is  really  a  word  marking  the  Christian  thought  of  death, 
although  so  seldom  understood  in  that  way.  Upon  the 
mount  of  transfiguration  the  heavenly  visitors  conversed 
with  Jesus  of  His  exodus.  Joseph,  when  his  end  was 
nigh,  spoke  of  the  exodus  of  the  children  of  Israel ;  and 
Peter,  referring  to  his  approaching  end,  used  the  word 
concerning  it  which  our  Lord  had  used  of  His,  on  the 
holy  mount,  "  after  My  exodus." 

We  have  occupied  so  much  space  with  this  word  in 
order  that  we  may  be  brought  face  to  face  with  this  par- 
ticular aspect  of  the  Cross  of  Jesus.  We  have  considered 
our  Lord  as  He  passed  into  the  place  which  was  the  neces- 
sary outcome  of  His  assuming  the  responsibility  of  sin. 
We  are  now  to  consider  Him  as  leading  the  way  out  from 
that  very  place,  and  so  are  to  consider  His  death  as  in  the 
pathway  of  His  exodus.  In  this  exodus  He  broke  down 
all  barriers,  and  left  behind  Him  open  doors  through  which 
those  submitted  to  His  Kingship,  surrendered  to  His  gov- 
ernment, might  have  their  exodus  also  from  the  bondage 
and  slavery  of  sin  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children 
of  God.  In  order  to  our  contemplation  of  this  aspect  of 
the  Cross,  we  shall  first  make  a  statement  of  the  case,  and 
then  take  the  supreme  illustration  of  this  truth  given  in  the 
case  of  the  malefactor,  who  by  faith  in  Jesus,  passed  with 
Him  along  the  pathway  of  His  exodus. 

I.  In  stating  the  case  there  must  first  be  a  remembrance 
of  certain  foundation  facts.  Of  this  the  supreme  one  is 
that  of  the  Divine  Kingship.  God  is  King.  His  claim 
is  based  upon  the  fact  that  He  is  the  Creator,  and  Sustainer, 
of  all  lifej  and  therefore  His  Proprietorship  is  based  upon  this 


320 


The  Crises  of  the  Christ 


original  relationship,  and  His  governmental  right  is  the 
necessary  and  logical  sequence.  From  this  fact  there  can 
be  no  final  escape.  The  history  of  human  sin  is  the  his- 
tory of  man's  attempt  to  deny  the  Divine  Kingship,  and  to 
resist  its  claims.  In  spite  of  all  this  terrible  history  of  re- 
bellion and  failure,  God  has  not  resigned  His  throne,  He 
has  not  abandoned  His  sceptre.  He  has  not  yielded  the 
reins  of  government.  He  is  absolute  King  in  the  very  na- 
ture of  the  case.  His  right  to  rule  does  not  depend  upon 
the  vote  of  a  crowd.  He  has  created.  He  has  sustained, 
and  in  these  facts  lies  the  right  of  His  Kingship.  In  the 
fullness  of  time  God  revealed  and  represented  the  fact  of 
His  Kingship  in  the  Person  of  His  Son. 

Let  us  again  revert  to  the  second  Psalm,  and  read  it  as 
it  bears  on  our  study. 

First  we  have  the  question  of  the  Psalmist  in  which 
we  discover  the  touch  of  irony  : — 

"  Why  do  the  nations  rage, 
And  the  peoples  meditate  a  vain  thing  ?  "  • 

Then  follows  his  description  of  the  attitude  of  the  kings 
and  the  rulers  of  the  earth  towards  God  and  His  anointed, 
with  a  declaration  of  their  resolve  : — 

"  The  kings  of  the  earth  set  themselves. 
And  the  rulers  take  counsel  together. 
Against  Jehovah,  and  against  His  Anointed,  saying, 
Let  us  break  their  bonds  asunder, 
And  cast  away  their  cords  from  us."  ' 

The  next  stage  in  the  Psalm  reveals  the  attitude  of  God 
towards  the   kings  and   the   rulers,  and  declares  the  words 

>Psa.  2:  I.  «Psa.  2:  2,3. 


The  Kingly  Exodus  321 

of  Jehovah,  in  answer  to  the  resolve  of  these  kings  and 

rulers : — 

"  He  that  sitteth  in  the  heavens  will  laugh  : 
The  Lord  will  have  them  in  derision. 
Then  will  He  speak  unto  them  in  His  wrath, 
And  vex  them  in  His  sore  displeasure  : 
Yet  have  I  set  My  King 
Upon  My  holy  hill  of  Zion."  ' 

At  this  point  there  is  a  change,  and  the  Psalmist  records  the 
words  of  the  anointed  King,  in  view  of  the  fiat  of  Je- 
hovah : — 

"  I  will  tell  of  the  decree  : 
Jehovah  said  unto  Me,  Thou  art  My  Son ; 
This  day  have  I  begotten  Thee. 

Ask  of  Me,  and  I  will  give  Thee  the  nations  for  Thine  inheritance, 
And  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  Thy  possession. 
Thou  shalt  break  them  with  a  rod  of  iron ; 
Thou  shalt  dash  them  in  pieces  like  a  potter's  vessel."  ^ 

And  yet  once  more  there  is  a  change.  With  the  ceasing 
of  the  voice  of  the  Anointed,  the  Psalmist  addresses  the 
kings,  and  the  rulers  of  the  earth  : — 

"  Now  therefore  be  wise,  O  ye  kings  : 
Be  instructed,  ye  judges  of  the  earth. 
Serve  Jehovah  with  fear, 
And  rejoice  with  trembling. 

Kiss  the  Son,  lest  He  be  angry,  and  ye  perish  in  the  way, 
For  His  wrath  will  soon  be  kindled. 
Blessed  are  all  they  that  take  refuge  in  Him."  3 

Notice  specially  the  announcement  of  Jehovah,  "  I  have 
set  My  King  upon  My  holy  hill  of  Zion."  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Son  of  God,  was  the  visible  representation  and  revela- 

>  Psa.  2:  4-6.  '  Psa.  2  :  7-9.  s  Psa.  2 :  10-12, 


322  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

tion  in  time,  of  the  perpetual  inward  fact  of  the  Divine 
Sovereignty.  He  is  God's  anointed  King  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  certain  purposes,  for  the  carrying  out  of  spe- 
cific work.  The  eternal  and  unalterable  fact  is  that  of  the 
sovereignty  of  Jehovah,  and  looking  on  over  the  far  and 
immeasurable  distances,  I  see  the  point  described  in  the 
words  of  the  apostle,  "  Then  cometh  the  end,  when  He 
(the  Son)  shall  deliver  up  the  kingdom  to  God,  even  the 
Father."  ^  In  the  Divine  economy  therefore  there  will 
finally  be  restored  the  actual  and  immediate  Kingship  of 
God.  In  order  to  that  issue  for  the  carrying  out  of  the 
wonderful  processes  which  will  result  therein,  the  Son  is 
the  King  anointed,  set  upon  the  holy  hill  of  Zion.  These 
facts  must  be  clearly  before  the  mind  in  the  contemplation 
of  the  Cross  as  the  exodus  of  the  King. 

In  certain  respects,  this  fact  of  the  Divine  Kingship  has 
become  inoperative  in  human  lives.  In  no  human  life  has 
it  absolutely  become  inoperative.  Every  man,  woman,  and 
child  is  under  the  government  of  God,  and  can  by  no  means 
escape  from  it.  The  supreme  illustration  and  proof  of  this 
lies  in  the  fact  that  no  man  has  been  able  to  fix  the  day  of 
his  death.  Or  if  by  an  act  of  unreasoning  folly  man  has 
taken  his  life,  it  has  been  but  to  discover  that  he  has  not 
escaped  from,  but  has  hurried  himself  into,  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  supremacy  of  the  Eternal  God.  Yet  in  the 
realm  of  will,  and  therefore  of  certain  lines  of  conduct, 
the  Divine  Kingship  is  not  acknowledged,  and  in  that  sense 
has  become  inoperative.  Insomuch  as  this  is  true,  man  has 
passed  under  the  false  authority,  and  has  become  its  slave. 
In  an  earlier  study  we  noticed  how  the  will  necessarily  de- 
mands a  governing  centre,  a  reason,  a  because.  Will  can 
only  be  exercised  upon  the  basis  of  reason,  and  the  reason 
» I  Cor.  15  :  24. 


The  Kingly  Exodus  323 

behind  the  exercise,  is  the  governing  authority  of  the  life. 
The  true  reason  for  the  exercise  of  the  will  of  man  is  the 
will  of  God.  Man  dethroned  God,  declined  to  consider  His 
will  as  the  abiding  law,  and  abandoned  by  that  act  the  true 
principle  of  life.  He  did  not,  however,  escape  from  the 
necessity  of  a  central  authority,  and  a  governing  principle. 
In  place,  however,  of  the  good  and  perfect  and  acceptable 
will  of  God,  he  enthroned  the  foolish,  varying,  imperfect 
desires  of  the  flesh  and  the  mind.  Instead  of  continuing 
to  say,  I  will  because  God  wills,  he  came  to  say,  I  will  be- 
cause I  wish.  That  is  the  essence  of  sin,  and  the  issue 
is  obvious.  Man  yielded  to  sin,  becomes  the  servant  of 
sin,  is  oppressed  by  sin,  and  is  unable  to  do  any  other  than 
respond  to  the  mastery  of  sin.  He  may  catch  fair  glimpses 
of  that  freer  life,  actuated  by  the  will  of  God,  but  being 
under  the  dominion  of  sin,  he  is  not  free  to  obey  the 
Divine  Kingship.  In  the  words  of  the  apostle,  he  has  to 
say,  "  to  me  who  would  do  good,  evil  is  present."  ^  That 
is  the  supreme  and  overwhelming  degradation  of  human 
life.  It  is,  moreover,  the  whole  story  of  man.  Yielded 
to  sin  he  is  the  slave  of  sin,  bound  hand  and  foot,  bruised 
and  ruined  in  the  whole  fact  of  his  life. 

This  principle  of  sin  expressed  itself  towards  God's 
anointed  King  in  His  rejection  and  casting  out.  The  will 
of  man,  governed  by  a  wrong  reason,  acting  from  a  wrong 
motive,  rejected,  crucified  the  One  Who  revealed  the  true 
centre  of  authority  in  human  life. 

The  great  problems,  therefore,  facing  the  King  in  His 
work  of  redeeming  man,  were  those  of  how  he  should  be 
freed  from  the  penalty  of  sin,  and  delivered  from  its  paraly- 
sis. The  inevitable  issue  of  sin  is  death.  Sin  committed 
cannot  be  undone  by  sorrow,  or  by  promise  of  amendment. 
'  Rom.  7  :  21, 


324  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Sowing  demands  the  harvest.  It  cannot  possibly  be 
avoided.  Before  man  can  be  delivered  from  the  slavery  of 
sin,  the  penalty  of  sin  must  be  borne. 

The  deeper  and  more  terrible  problem  is  that  of  the 
paralysis  resulting  from  sin.  Sin  working  death  makes 
obedience  impossible.  Man  is  the  slave  of  sin,  is  paralyzed 
in  all  the  highest  powers  of  his  being,  in  the  whole  of 
which  the  poison  operates  with  ever  increasing  and  terrific 
power.  These  problems  are  solved  in  the  mystery  of  the 
King's  passion.  Having  reverently  come  to  the  margin  of 
that  passion,  and  observed  Him  as  He  passed  into  a  realm 
where  we  could  by  no  means  follow,  we  see  Him  in  the 
Cross  emerging  from  the  slavery. 

As  our  previous  study  has  shown,  the  King  in  His  sin- 
lessness  has  carried  the  sin  of  His  people,  and  having  done 
so  has  created  a  value  which  He  did  not  require  for  Him- 
self, and  which  is  therefore  at  the  disposal  of  those  in 
whose  place  He  has  suffered.  Thus  by  identification  with 
man  in  the  penaliv  and  paralysis  of  sin.  He  brings  man 
into  identification  with  Himself  in  the  pardon  and  power 
of  His  life.  Yet  when  I  hear  Him  saying:  "It  is  fin- 
ished," ^  "  Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  commend  My 
spirit,"  ^  I  know  that  He  is  on  the  highway  of  His  exodus, 
Egypt  is  behind,  the  power  of  the  oppressor  is  broken,  the 
mystery  of  sin  is  at  an  end,  and  as  He  emerges  from  the 
slavery.  He  sets  the  door  wide  open,  that  those  who  follow 
Him  by  the  way  of  the  Cross,  may  have  their  exodus  also 
from  all  that  sin  means  as  to  penalty.  It  was,  moreover, 
the  pathway  of  freedom  from  the  paralysis  of  sin,  in  virtue 
of  the  fact  that  the  life  laid  down  was  taken  again,  that  it 
might  be  communicated  to  the  sin-enslaved.  This  will 
only  be  fully  dealt  with  as  we  pass  to  the  subjects  of  resur- 
>  John  19  :  30.  2  Luke  23 :  46. 


The  Kingly  Exodus  325 

rection  and  ascension,  which  are  also  within  the  highway 
of  His  exodus. 

Thus  we  reverently  contemplate  the  anointed  King  as 
He  leads  His  people  from  the  Egypt  of  their  bondage, 
through  a  divided  sea,  towards  the  place  of  liberty  under 
the  Kingship  of  Jehovah.  The  King  Himself  has  taken 
hold  upon  that  which  has  enslaved  man,  He  has  borne  its 
penalty,  and  broken  its  power,  and  thus  provided  the  value 
of  forgiveness  for  the  race,  and  a  dynamic  of  life  for  all 
such  as  put  their  trust  in  Him.  We  see  Him  passing  by 
the  way  of  the  Cross  with  the  step  of  a  Conqueror,  the 
Leader  of  the  great  hosts,  who  by  His  victory  shall  be  de- 
livered from  the  bondage  of  sin  and  the  bondage  of  death, 
into  all  the  spacious  freedom  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

n.  A  singularly  beautiful  illustration  of  the  truth  is 
supplied  in  the  story  of  the  malefactor.  Carefully  note  the 
setting  of  that  story  in  the  Gospel  of  Luke.  Immediately 
preceding  it  is  the  account  of  the  superscription  over  His 
cross,  "This  is  the  King  of  the  Jews."  '  Immediately 
following  it  is  the  declaration  :  "  It  was  now  about  the 
sixth  hour,  and  a  darkness  came  over  the  land  until  the 
ninth  hour,  the  sun's  light  failing,  and  the  veil  of  the 
temple  was  rent  in  the  midst."  ^ 

The  superscription  expressed  the  fact  that  the  Hebrew 
nation  did  not  believe.  So  far  as  Pilate  was  concerned  it 
was  undoubtedly  an  expression  of  his  contempt  for  the 
men  who  had  encompassed  the  death  of  Jesus.  These 
are  the  human  elements.  The  Divine  fact  is  that  the 
superscription  was  written  with  the  finger  of  God  even 
though  Pilate  all  unconsciously  was  His  penman.  As  of 
old  He  girded  Cyrus,  though  he  did  not  know  Him,  so  He 
>  Luke  23 :  38.  ^  Luke  23 :  44,  45. 


326  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

inspired  Pilate  who  was  all  unconscious.  The  Jewish  na- 
tion in  the  purpose  of  God  was  a  revelation  of  His  gov- 
ernment, a  theocracy  through  which  He  would  express  the 
benefits  of  His  rule  to  the  nations  of  the  world,  that  they 
might  all  share  in  them  by  submission.  In  the  economy 
of  God,  therefore,  the  King  of  the  Jews  was  the  Holy 
One  set  upon  the  hill  of  Zion,  King  of  the  whole  earth. 
The  Hebrew  people  had  their  exodus  from  bondage  long 
centuries  before,  but  it  had  never  been  completed.  The 
letter  to  the  Hebrews  makes  this  perfectly  clear.  They 
passed  over  the  sea,  and  yet  died  in  the  wilderness.  The 
God-appointed  King,  talking  with  Moses  who  had  led  that 
old-time  exodus,  and  yet  who  himself  had  failed  as  the  peo- 
ple had  failed,  spoke  of  an  exodus  which  He  would  ac- 
complish. The  other  exodus  was  never  accomplished.  It 
was  begun,  but  not  finished.  He  had  come  to  accomplish, 
to  finish  the  exodus,  and  the  superscription  marks  Him  as 
the  King  Who  is  leading  His  people,  and  all  people  who 
bow  to  His  sceptre  in  that  exodus  which  is  perfect  freedom 
from  the  bondage  of  false  authority. 

At  last  the  hours  of  darkness  are  ended,  and  then  it  is 
written,  "the  veil  of  the  temple  was  rent  in  the  midst."  ^ 
The  rent  veil  was  the  sign  that  the  exodus  so  far  as  the 
King  was  concerned,  was  accomplished.  This  exodus 
which  has  been  considered  as  a  going  out  of,  a  liberation 
from  the  bondage,  is  now  seen  as  an  introduction  to  rela- 
tionship with  God. 

Between  this  declaration  concerning  the  superscription, 
and  the  account  of  the  rent  veil,  there  is  the  story  of  the 
malefactor,  and  his  coming  into  association  with  the  King, 
in  the  process  of  the  exodus.  That  dying  man  is  a  super- 
lative illustration  of  the  slavery  of  sin.  He  is  suffering 
•  Luke  23  :  45. 


The  Kingly  Exodus  327 

the  penalty  of  death,  which  is  the  issue  of  the  paralysis  of 
ruined  character.  In  that  hopeless  condition  he  becomes 
conscious  of  his  nearness  to  the  King.  There  is,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  no  record  of  faith  in  the  New  Testament  so 
wonderful  as  that  of  the  dying  malefactor.  In  the  very 
moment  of  the  defeat  of  Jesus  to  all  human  seeming,  in 
the  presence  of  the  sign  and  symbol  of  His  casting  out, 
this  man  recognizes  the  King  moving  towards  a  Kingdom, 
and  he  appeals  to  Him  before  the  exodus  is  accomplished, 
before  the  crowning  is  reached.  His  cry  is  the  cry  of  con- 
scious need  as  it  casts  itself  in  all  its  helplessness  at  the 
feet  of  supreme  authority.  "Jesus,  remember  me  when 
Thou  comest  in  Thy  kingdom."  ^  What  did  the  King 
say  to  such  an  appeal  ?  He  was  on  His  way  from  Egypt 
to  the  land  of  liberty.  He  was  at  the  moment  grappling 
with  the  bonds  that  bound  the  race.  He,  whelmed  in  the 
billows  of  the  sea,  was  yet  in  infinite  power  dividing  a 
pathway  through  its  waters,  and  without  hesitation,  in  a 
great  consciousness  of  the  coming  victory.  He  said,  "To- 
day shalt  thou  be  with  Me  in  Paradise."  ^  We  care  noth- 
ing for  the  moment  as  to  discussions  concerning  the  Para- 
dise. "With  Me."  That  is  the  word  of  value.  Explain 
the  Paradise  as  you  will.  Let  it  mean  for  the  moment,  if 
you  so  please,  simply  the  abiding  place  of  disembodied  spirits. 
What  matters  it  ?  The  fact  remains  that  the  sin-slaved 
and  ruined  man  is  in  that  abode  to  be  with  the  King. 
Abandonment  to  Him  will  issue  in  identification  with  Him. 
If  that  issue  is  His  defeat,  then  also  will  abide  the  defeat 
of  the  man.  Yet  this  is  a  suggestion  ventured  only  by 
way  of  contrast  to  the  glorious  fact.  The  King  really 
said  to  him,  I  am  going  on  My  exodus,  you  come  with 
Me.  I  am  passing  to  the  depth  of  this  slavery.  I  am 
'  Luke  23 :  42.  '  Luke  23  :  43. 


328  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

breaking  these  bonds.  I  am  liberating  the  prisoners. 
Come  with  Me.  From  that  moment  until  this  He  has 
been  leading  souls  who  have  trusted  Him  through  the  path- 
way of  His  passion  with  all  its  values,  into  the  place  of 
His  victory  with  all  its  virtues. 

Thus  the  presence  and  the  plea  of  the  dying  malefactor 
reveals  the  Cross  as  the  condemnation  and  death  of  re- 
bellion and  unbelief,  and  the  commendation  and  life  power 
of  loyalty  and  faith. 

So  comes  the  kingdom  of  God  !  The  King  has  accom- 
plished the  exodus  !  Are  we  living  in  the  bondage,  or  in 
freedom  ?  The  answer  to  this  question  will  be  found  in 
the  answer  to  another.  Have  we  yet  come  into  the  place 
of  trusting  identification  with  Him  in  His  Cross  ?  If  so, 
then  for  us 

"  Bars  are  riven, 
Foes  are  driven  " 

and  our  bondage  is  at  an  end. 

The  King  accomplished  the  exodus  for  all  such  as  put 
their  trust  in  Him,  and  these  have  already  passed  with 
Him  from  darkness  to  light,  from  slavery  to  freedom,  from 
death  to  life. 


XXIV 
THE  REPRESENTATIVE  CROWDS 

The  Cross  was  the  outworking  in  history  of  the  re- 
demptive purposes  of  God.  In  it  the  Lamb  slain  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world,  was  slain  in  view  of  those  for 
whom  His  passion  and  death  provided  redemption  and  life. 
It  would  seem  as  though  all  the  facts  and  forces  of  human 
life  appeared  in  the  presence  of  the  passion  of  the  Son  of 
God.  What  the  Cross  was  to  those  composing  this  assem- 
bly, depended  upon  the  attitude  of  mind  and  heart  in  which 
they  gathered  around  it.  To  some  it  was  the  evangel  of 
hope.  To  others  it  was  a  sentence  of  doom.  In  the 
present  study  we  shall  attempt  to  look  at  those  gathered  to 
the  Cross,  and  to  enquire  what  the  Cross  meant  to  them. 

In  an  examination  of  the  records  of  the  crucifixion  pre- 
served for  us  by  the  four  evangelists,  we  shall  be  able  to 
fill  in  for  ourselves  a  picture  of  that  Cross  with  the  per- 
sons surrounding  it.  As  we  have  been  intent  upon  the 
vision  of  the  suffering  Saviour,  we  now  turn  to  look  at 
those  who  are  round  about  Him,  and  at  once  are  arrested 
by  the  strange  mixture,  and  representative  character  of  the 
multitude  gathered  to  the  mount  called  Calvary. 

Let  us  first  state  without  reference  to  classification,  the 
persons  mentioned  in  the  Gospels,  and  then  proceed  to 
separate  them  into  groups,  and  consider  the  suggestiveness 
in  each  case. 

L     All  the  writers  in  some  way  refer  to  the  presence  of 

329 


330  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

the  women.  Matthew  speaks  of  the  women  from  Galilee, 
and  of  these  he  names  "  Mary  Magdalene,  Mary  the 
mother  of  James  and  Joses,  and  the  mother  of  the  sons  of 
Zebedee." '  Mark  mentions  these  same  three  women, 
"  Mary  Magdalene,  Mary  the  mother  of  James  the  less 
and  of  Joses,  and  Salome,"  ^  the  wife  of  Zebedee,  and 
therefore  the  mother  of  James  and  of  John,  the  sons  of 
Zebedee.  Luke  gives  no  names,  but  he  declares  the  fact 
of  the  presence  of  the  women  in  the  words,  "  there  fol- 
lowed Him  a  great  multitude  of  the  people,  and  of  women 
who  bewailed  and  lamented  Him."  ^  John  names  the  three 
referred  to  by  Matthew  and  Mark,  but  adds  another.  It  is 
he  who  declares  the  presence  of  the  mother  of  the  Lord. 
There  has  been  some  difference  of  opinion  concerning 
John's  account  of  the  women  present,  which  reads,  "  But 
there  were  standing  by  the  Cross  of  Jesus  His  mother,  and 
His  mother's  sister,  Mary  the  wife  of  Clopas,  and  Mary 
Magdalene."  ^  Some  interpret  that  verse  as  referring  to 
three  women.  In  that  case  it  is  understood  that  His 
mother's  sister  was  Mary  the  wife  of  Clopas.  My  own 
conviction  is  that  John  mentions  four  women,  that  Mary 
of  Clopas  was  not  the  sister  of  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus. 
To  tabulate  the  statement  of  John,  you  would  write : — 

"  His  mother." 

"  His  mother's  sister." 

"  Mary  the  wife  of  Clopas." 

"  Mary  Magdalene." 

The  only  difference  between  this  account,  and  those  of 
Matthew  and  Mark,  is  the  addition  of  the  mention  of 
Mary  the  mother  of  the  Lord.  In  that  case  her  sister 
was   Salome,  the  wife    of  Zebedee,  and  mother  of  James 

'Matt.  27:  56.       2  Mark  15:  40.       ^  Luke  23  :  27.       <John    19:  25. 


The  Representative  Crowds  331 

and  John.  It  is  interesting  to  note  in  passing,  the 
effect  that  this  understanding  of  the  passage  has  upon 
certain  facts  in  the  Gospel  history.  The  woman  who  came 
to  the  Lord,  and  asked  that  her  sons  might  sit,  one  on  His 
right  hand  and  one  on  His  left  hand,  was  according  to  the 
flesh,  related  to  Him,  being  His  mother's  sister,  and  these 
men  for  whom  the  boon  was  asked  were  His  own  cousins. 
This  gives  some  clue  to  what  otherwise  appears  as  a  very 
strange  request.  If  it  be  granted  that  Salome  was  His 
mother's  sister,  we  have  at  any  rate  some  explanation  of 
her  request  in  the  fact  that  she  suggested  to  Him  that  when 
He  came  into  the  place  of  power  He  should  find  prefer- 
ment for  His  family  relations. 

We  take  it  then  for  granted  that  four  women  are  men- 
tioned as  being  present  at  the  crucifixion  of  the  Lord.  In 
John  we  see  two  pairs,  the  unnamed  women,  the  mother 
of  the  Lord  and  her  sister ;  and  the  two  women  who  are 
named,  Mary  of  Clopas,  and  Mary  Magdalene.  As  Luke 
records,  there  were  many  other  women,  but  these  stand 
prominently  out,  as  having  been  most  closely  associated  with 
Him. 

All  the  evangelists  speak  of  the  presence  of  the  soldiers, 
and  of  the  two  malefactors  crucified  one  on  either  side  of 
Jesus.  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke  draw  special  attention 
to  the  centurion  in  charge  of  the  carrying  out  of  the 
crucifixion,  and  they  give  some  account  of  how  he  was 
impressed  in  the  presence  of  the  Crucified.  According  to 
Matthew  he  said,  "  Truly  this  was  a  Son  of  God " ;  ^ 
according  to  Mark,  "  Truly  this  Man  was  a  Son  of 
God  "  ;  ^  according  to  Luke,  "  Certainly  this  was  a  right- 
eous Man."  ^     Let   me   at  once  say  that  there  is  no  con- 

1  Matt.  27  :  54  (margin).  *  Mark  15  :  39  (margin). 

3  Luke  23  :  47. 


332  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

tradiction  between  Matthew  and  Mark  on  the  one  hand, 
and  Luke  on  the  other.  It  is  almost  certain  that  the  cen- 
turion said  both  of  these  things.  It  is  certainly  conceiv- 
able that  as  this  man  watched  Jesus  on  the  Cross,  he  gave 
utterance  to  more  than  one  sentence,  and  we  believe  there- 
fore that  while  Matthew  and  Mark  chronicle  the  statement 
which  impressed  them,  Luke  chronicled  what  appealed  to 
him,  and  was  in  perfect  harmony  with  his  whole  scheme 
of  teaching.  The  accounts  are  rather  complementary  than 
contradictory. 

The  presence  of  the  chief  priests  is  recorded  by  Mat- 
thew, Mark,  and  John,  Luke  making  no  reference  to  them. 
Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke  refer  to  the  scribes,  elders,  or 
rulers,  comprising  the  Sanhedrim,  while  John  ignores  their 
presence. 

Luke,  the  burden  of  whose  Gospel  is  that  of  the  uni- 
versality of  the  work  and  relation  of  Jesus,  declares  the 
presence  of  great  multitudes  of  the  people. 

John  alone  tells  us  that  the  disciples  were  also  there,  and 
he  only,  moreover,  refers  to  the  fact  of  his  own  presence, 
and  this  in  order  that  he  may  record  Christ's  committal  of 
His  mother  to  his  care.  Standing  back  and  gazing  out 
upon  that  mixed  multitude,  we  notice  the  women,  the 
soldiers,  the  malefactors,  the  centurion,  the  chief  priests, 
the  members  of  the  Sanhedrim,  the  group  of  His  own  dis- 
ciples, and  in  addition  to  these,  the  vast  multitudes  of  peo- 
ple from  the  whole  surrounding  country.  All  sorts  and 
conditions  of  men  are  gathered  to  the  Cross,  representative 
crowds,  the  whole  scene  being  a  picture  and  a  prophecy  of 
how,  through  all  the  centuries,  every  sort  and  condition 
would  be  gathered  to  the  uplifted  Cross  of  the  Son  of  man. 

II.     Let  us  now  look  at  these  crowds  in  another  way. 


The  Representative  Crowds  333 

We  will  attempt  an  analysis  of  the  multitude,  not  so  much 
with  reference  to  the  persons  as  to  the  conditions  repre- 
sented at  the  Cross,  illustrating  the  fact  by  an  examination 
of  the  people. 

Sorrow  was  supremely  represented  by  the  presence  of^ 
the  women.  Worldly  government  by  the  centurion,  the 
soldiers,  and  the  malefactors.  Religious  failure  by  the 
chief  priests  and  the  Sanhedrim.  The  great  shepherdless 
crowd  over  which  Christ  had  so  often  mourned,  and  in  the 
presence  of  which  His  heart  had  ever  been  moved  with 
compassion,  was  largely  represented  in  the  great  multitude 
of  which  Luke  speaks.  Familiarity  with  Jesus  had  its 
representation  in  the  presence  before  the  Cross  of  His 
kinsfolk  and  acquaintance.  Discipleship  was  there,  in  the  " 
person  of  His  own,  and  particularly  of  John. 

See,  first,  human  sorrow  as  represented  in  the  women, 
noticing  the  groups  as  we  have  them  in  John,  taking  first 
the  women  who  are  named,  and  then  the  women  known 
but  unnamed. 

Of  the  former,  the  principal  figure  attracting  attention  is 
that  of  Mary  Magdalene,  for  we  know  very  little  concern- 
ing Mary  of  Clopas,  save  that  she  was  the  mother  of  James 
the  less  and  of  Joses.  The  sorrow  of  Mary  Magdalene 
must  have  been  very  profound.  I  would  that  it  were  in  my 
power  to  redeem  this  woman  from  a  popular  and  terrible 
misconception  concerning  her.  For  some  reason  almost 
without  explanation  the  term  Magdalene  has  become  a  syn- 
onym for  impurity.  There  is  absolutely  no  warrant  in 
Scripture  for  the  idea.  Mary  Magdalene  simply  means 
Mary  of  Magdala.  That  was  her  city,  and  the  title  is  used 
undoubtedly  by  the  evangelists,  simply  to  distinguish  her 
from  other  women  who  bore  the  name  of  Mary.  She  had 
been  delivered  from  seven  demons.     This  phrase  was  cer- 


334  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

tainly  sometimes  used  by  Jewish  writers  as  descriptive  of 
some  terrible  form  of  sin,  such  as  drunkenness  or  impurity, 
but  it  was  as  often  used  to  describe  different  forms  of  dis- 
ease, such  as  epilepsy.  Attempts  have  been  made  to  link 
her  with  the  woman  that  was  a  sinner,  but  the  case  has 
never  been  proven,  and  in  the  absence  of  positive  proof 
we  have  no  right  forever  to  link  her  memory  with  the  sin 
of  unchastity.  We  prefer  to  believe  that  the  demons  pos- 
sessing her  had  afflicted  her  as  they  did  the  son  of  the  man 
who  met  Jesus  at  the  foot  of  the  mount  of  transfiguration, 
seeing  that  we  have  no  positive  proof  of  impurity.  This 
woman  was  present  at  His  Cross,  watching  the  cruel  cruci- 
fixion and  fearful  death  of  the  One  Who  had  forever  en- 
deared Himself  to  her,  and  proved  His  power,  by  that  mar- 
vellous deliverance  He  had  wrought.  By  the  way  of  that 
Cross  she  had  lost  her  Deliverer.  How  her  heart  must 
have  been  wrung  with  anguish. 

Yet  in  the  clearer  understanding  of  the  Cross  which  has 
come  to  us,  we  see  how  in  it  she  recovered  her  Leader,  and 
by  it  He  gained  possession  of  her  forever,  as  the  One  Who 
in  the  mystery  of  its  darkness,  conquered  and  dispossessed 
the  devil  and  all  demons  of  their  power  over  human  lives. 
So  that  while  hers  was  the  sorrow  of  a  lost  Leader,  a  dead 
Deliverer,  it  was  in  process  of  time  transformed  into  the 
joy  of  a  Leader  that  cannot  be  lost  nor  will  suffer  those  He 
loves  to  be  lost,  of  a  Deliverer  Who  has  conquered  death 
and  will  deliver  those  who  trust  Him,  even  from  death  it- 
self. Thus  for  Mary  of  Magdala  the  Cross  was  the  proc- 
ess by  which  her  greatest  sorrow  was  transmuted  into  her 
highest  joy. 

Notice  next  the  second  pair  of  women,  Salome  the 
mother  of  James  and  John,  and  the  Lord's  own  mother 
Mary. 


The  Representative  Crowds  335 

Concerning  Salome  may  it  not  be  said  that  she  stood  be- 
fore the  Cross  disappointed  in  the  emotions  of  mother- 
hood ?  Her  sons  had  left  their  fishing,  and  had  gone  to 
follow  Jesus.  With  the  true  instinct  of  motherhood  she 
had  been  anxious  that  they  should  succeed.  One  can  im- 
agine that  she  did  not  feel  perfectly  in  harmony  with  their 
action.  If  I  may  use  an  expression  of  the  present  day  in 
application  to  her  attitude,  I  should  say  that  she  had  ques- 
tioned the  wisdom  of  their  giving  up  a  certainty  for  an  un- 
certainty. When,  however,  they  had  left  their  nets  and 
followed  Him,  she  endeavoured  to  use  her  influence  with 
Him  on  their  behalf.  Expecting  the  possibility  of  His  at 
last  coming  into  power,  she  had  asked  that  in  that  event 
her  sons,  His  cousins,  James  and  John,  might  sit  one  on 
His  right  hand,  and  one  on  His  left.  And  now  the  folly 
of  their  action  is  revealed  in  His  evident  failure.  I  see  in 
this  woman  the  sorrow  of  disappointed  motherhood.  It 
may  be  objected  that  this  is  placing  her  sorrow  on  a  low 
level.  Is  it  not  true  that  most  human  sorrow  is  sorrow  on 
a  level  that  is  certainly  not  high  ?  I  do  not  question  for  a 
moment  that  this  woman  sorrowed  in  sympathy  with  Him 
in  His  defeat  and  awful  pain,  but  her  previous  action  makes 
it  more  than  probable  that  she  thought  of  her  own  sons  in 
the  presence  of  the  crucified  Jesus.  And  yet  what  did  that 
Cross  do  for  this  woman  ?  It  was  by  it  that  James  and 
John  found  their  thrones  of  power.  They  passed  out  into 
the  ages  crowned  men,  seeing  that  He  permitted  them  to 
drink  of  His  cup,  and  to  be  baptized  with  His  baptism,  as 
He  said  that  He  would.  And  so  by  the  way  of  that  Cross 
her  motherhood  was  crowned  with  gladness,  and  she  found 
her  joy  just  where  she  had  seemed  to  lose  it. 

Who  shall  speak  of  the  sorrow  of  His  own  mother .? 
Let  us  describe  it  by  the  words  in  which  it  was  foretold  in 


336  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

those  early  days  in  which  her  heart  was  glad  at  the  birth 
of  Jesus.  The  sword  had  pierced  through  her  own  soul. 
What  anguish  of  spirit,  what  heart-break  Mary  passed 
through,  perhaps  only  motherhood  can  ever  perfectly  com- 
prehend. And  yet  she  also  found  her  salvation  there,  and 
is  known  to-day  as  most  highly  favoured  among  women,  be- 
cause she  was  the  mother  of  Him  Who  was  crucified  for 
the  redemption  of  man.  Blessed  virgin  in  very  deed.  It 
is  absolutely  certain  that  we  of  the  Protestant  faith  have  in 
our  rebound  from  the  worship  of  this  woman  gone  to 
another  extreme,  utterly  unwarranted  by  Scripture.  We 
have  relegated  Mary  into  the  improper  position  of  obscurity. 
We  need  to  remember  that  an  angel  addressed  her,  saying, 
"  Hail,  thou  that  art  highly  favoured,"  '  and  this  we  should  all 
be  prepared  to  say  of  her,  as  a  recognition  of  her  exalted 
position,  having  in  it  not  the  slightest  suspicion  of  worship 
rendered.  In  Mary  all  womanhood  was  crowned  and  ele- 
vated, and  yet  she  found  her  way  into  heaven,  not  because 
of  the  honour  bestowed  upon  her,  but  by  the  way  of  that 
Cross  and  passion,  which  for  the  moment  was  a  sword 
piercing  her  soul  also. 

Thus  sorrow  is  seen  at  the  Cross  where  sorrow  is  always 
seen  at  its  deepest,  in  the  wounded,  stricken,  smitten  heart 
of  womanhood ;  and  yet  in  each  case  by  the  Cross  the  sor- 
row was  turned  into  joy.  Upon  the  dark  cloud  there 
flashed  the  great  light,  until  the  very  cloud  became  a  sea  of 
glory.  Oh,  rough  and  rugged  Cross  of  Calvary !  We 
gather  round  thy  stern  sublimity  of  suffering  with  our  own 
hearts'  agony,  and  find  heart's-ease.  We  come  to  thee 
with  faces  stained  with  tears,  and  in  the  strength  of  His 
victory  our  tears  are  wiped  away,  our  sorrow  is  turned 
into  joy. 

»  Luke  I  :  28. 


The  Representative  Crowds  337 

But  now  turn  abruptly  to  another  group,  the  representa- 
tives of  worldly  government,  th6  centurion,  the  soldiers, 
and  the  crucified  malefactors.  Look  at  each  of  them  for 
a  moment,  for  the  Cross  is  to  the  fact  of  worldly  govern- 
ment, just  what  the  fact  of  worldly  government  is  to  the 
Cross. 

The  centurion  was  a  representative  of  discipline  and 
duty.  It  is  worthy  of  passing  notice  that  every  centurion 
mentioned  in  the  New  Testament  was  a  good  man.  It 
was  a  centurion  who  said  to  Jesus :  "  I  also  am  a  man  set 
under  authority,  having  under  myself  soldiers :  and  I  say 
to  this  one.  Go,  and  he  goeth ;  and  to  another.  Come,  and 
he  Cometh."^  In  that  statement  there  is  contained  a  re- 
markable philosophy  of  authority  and  discipline.  I  am 
under  authority,  I  obey ;  therefore  I  have  authority,  I 
command  others  to  obey.  The  true  philosophy  of  human 
government  lies  within  that  statement.  The  man  who 
has  a  right  to  rule  is  the  man  who  knows  how  to  be  ruled. 
The  only  man  fit  to  issue  orders  is  the  man  accustomed  to 
obey  orders.  "  I  am  under  authority,  I  have  authority." 
This  centurion  in  the  presence  of  the  Cross  was  a  man  of 
authority,  and  he  had  soldiers  under  him.  He  was  a  man 
of  law,  of  order,  of  discipline,  of  duty,  and  from  that 
standpoint  of  life  he  had  watched  the  dying  man  until 
at  last  he  said,  "  Truly  this  was  a  Son  of  God."  ^  To 
properly  appreciate  this  statement  we  must  understand 
the  Roman  thought  rather  than  the  Hebrew  in  the 
/hrase  "  a  Son  of  God."  I  believe  the  centurion  meant 
that  He  was  one  of  the  sons  of  the  gods.  The  Roman 
idea  of  God  was  that  of  heroic,  courageous  manhood, 
magnified  in  all  its  powers,  and  looking  upon  this  man 
in  His  suffering,  the  heroism,  the  courage  and  the  dis- 
>  Luke  7:8.  ■'  Matt.  27  :  54. 


338  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

cipline  manifested  in  submission,  appealed  to  him  as  being 
Godlike. 

And  yet  he  said  another  thing,  "  Certainly  this  was  a 
righteous  Man."  ^  This  was  the  conviction  of  one  who 
was  himself  a  man  of  duty.  To  this  Roman  soldier  the 
one  governing  principle  of  life  was  that  of  duty.  He 
lived  in  the  midst  of  a  system.  He  marched  in  rhythm 
and  time.  He  obeyed  and  insisted  upon  obedience  with 
inflexible  regularity.  Rightness  was  the  one  word  of  value 
to  him,  at  least  in  the  sphere  of  his  soldierhood.  He 
saw  in  the  Man  upon  the  Cross  One  evidently  acting 
in  the  realm  of  order,  submissive  to  authority,  and  there- 
fore authoritative,  keeping  time  with  eternal  principles  in 
the  quiet  majesty  of  His  submission,  "  a  righteous  Man." 
The  centurion  as  a  man  of  duty  discovered  order  in  the 
Cross,  and  as  a  man  who  worshipped  high  ideals,  saw  the 
Son  of  God  crucified. 

What  did  the  Cross  for  the  centurion  ?  We  have  no 
record  of  his  after  life,  but  this  much  at  least  is  certain, 
that  it  commanded  the  respect  and  the  confession  of  that 
which  was  highest  in  human  government.  And  if  we 
may  follow  the  story  along  imaginative  lines,  it  is  more 
than  probable  that  the  King  upon  Whose  brow  the  cen- 
turion placed  the  diadem  of  his  loyalty,  crowned  him  with 
the  realization  of  his  own  highest  ideals  of  life. 

We  look  at  the  soldiers  with  pity  rather  than  anger. 
They  were  brutalized  men,  and  yet  brutalized  by  the  sys- 
tem in  the  midst  of  which  they  found  themselves.  We 
watch  them  as  gathered  around  the  Cross  upon  which  they 
have  nailed  the  Son  of  God,  they  gambled  for  His  gar- 
ments and  presently  one  of  their  number  pierced  His  side 
with  a  spear.     As  we  have  seen  in  the  former  considera- 

'  Luke  23  :  47. 


The  Representative  Crowds  339 

tion,  that  spear  thrust  was  the  ultimate  expression  of  man's 
rebellion  against  God.  So  far  as  the  man  was  concerned 
who  thrust  it  in  His  side,  I  am  never  quite  sure  that  the 
action  was  not  prompted  by  pity.  How  brutalized  and 
vulgarized  these  men  were,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that 
they  cast  lots  for  His  garments  under  the  shadow  of  the 
Cross,  and  their  only  idea  of  help,  granting  that  to  have 
been  the  motive,  was  that  of  the  thrust  of  the  spear. 

One  wonders  if  these  soldiers  ever  saw  the  true  vision. 
Did  they  ever  understand  that  the  seamless  robe  of  which 
they  sought  to  gain  possession  by  gambling,  was  the 
prophecy  of  the  new  robing  being  provided  for  men  in  the 
mystery  of  that  Cross  ?  Did  they  ever  discover  that  the 
flowing  blood  which  answered  their  spear  thrust  was  for 
the  putting  away  of  sin  ?  I  do  not  know.  Personally  I 
expect  to  meet  some  of  those  men  in  heaven.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  the  Master  prayed  for  them,  and  I  cannot  forget 
that  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost  thousands  were  swept  into 
the  kingdom  of  God,  and  in  all  probability  among  the 
number  some  of  the  Roman  soldiery,  and,  perchance,  the 
men  also  who  nailed  Him  to  the  Cross. 

Look  for  one  moment  at  the  malefactors,  and  there  we 
have  sin  on  the  one  side  persisted  in,  and  on  the  other, 
turned  from.  The  crucified  malefactors  both  express  the 
uttermost  that  human  government  has  ever  been  able  to 
do  with  sin.  It  can  but  punish.  Both  these  men  are  in 
the  presence  of  the  Cross.  One  in  that  presence  persisted 
in  his  sin,  and  added  to  it.  f'or  him  the  Cross  was  the 
penalty  which  deepened  into  the  darker  death  that  lay  be- 
yond it.  One  turning  from  his  sin,  flung  himself  upon 
the  tender  notice  of  the  King,  Who  was  passing  over  the 
pathway  of  His  exodus,  and  for  Him  the  Cross  was  the 
gate  of  Paradise,  and  just  beyond  this  darkness  flamed  the 


340  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

splendour  of  the  light  of  the  presence  and  companionship 
of  the  Lord,  which  makes  unnecessary  the  light  of  sun,  or 
moon,  or  stars,  or  candle.  To  these  things  no  words  need 
be  added.  Sin  in  the  presence  of  the  Cross,  on  the  one 
hand,  persisting  in  rebellion,  goes  down  into  the  unutter- 
able and  awful  and  inexpressible  darkness.  Sin  on  the 
other  hand,  turning  to  Him,  confessing,  believing,  passes 
triumphantly  with  Him  through  the  darkness  of  the  Cross 
to  the  light  of  Paradise. 

Notice  yet  again  earth's  religious  failure  as  represented 
by  the  high  priests  and  the  Sanhedrim.  What  a  terrible 
picture  this  is  of  priestism.  These  men  were  rejoicing  in 
the  Cross  because  it  had  secured  power  to  them  by  destroy- 
ing Jesus.  Is  this  sufficiently  realized  ?  Do  we  always 
remember  why  the  priest  encompassed  the  death  of  Christ  ? 
Watch  carefully  the  history,  and  notice  that  their  trouble 
was  that  they  were  losing  power,  and  their  constant  ques- 
tion was.  What  shall  we  do  ?  The  people  were  slipping 
away  from  their  grip,  but  at  last  they  have  put  an  end  to 
His  influence,  they  have  Him  now  nailed  to  a  Cross,  and 
by  His  destruction  they  secure  their  own  power.  O  blind 
men,  infatuated  men  !  While  they  gloat  over  their  fancied 
victory,  God  rends  the  veil  of  the  temple  in  twain,  and  for- 
ever more  does  away  with  the  priest.  Just  as  they  thought 
they  had  ensured  their  dominance  of  humanity  by  crucify- 
ing Him,  He  by  His  dying  spoiled  their  power,  rent  the 
veil,  and  by  abolishing  the  priest,  created  the  priesthood  of 
all  believers. 

Turn  for  one  moment  and  look  at  the  Sanhedrim  as  rep- 
resented by  the  scribes,  the  elders,  the  rulers.  How  are 
they  occupied  in  the  presence  of  the  Cross  ?  They  are  in- 
dulging in  diabolical  pleasantry.  They  are  laughing  at  the 
dying  Man.     They  say,  "  He  saved  others,  Himself  He 


The  Representative  Crowds  341 

cannot  save."  '  They  are  making  merriment  over  the  fact 
that  the  Cross  is  the  evidence  of  His  folly.  He  Who  had 
been  saving  men,  and  calling  men  to  the  pathway  of  sal- 
vation, is  unable  to  save  Himself.  How  can  any  really 
save  others  who  are  not  able  to  save  themselves  ?  Such 
is  the  wisdom  of  the  world,  and  the  world's  wisdom 
laughs  at  the  folly  of  the  Cross.  It  has  never  ceased 
laughing  at  the  Cross  !  It  is  doing  so  still !  In  this  new 
century  the  trouble  is  that  not  the  world  only  makes  mock 
of  the  Cross.  The  laughter  has  invaded  the  so-called 
Church  of  Jesus.  I  have  heard  a  man,  claiming  to  be  in 
the  ministry  of  Jesus,  who  objected  to  sing  — 

"  There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood." 

What  gain  it  would  be  for  the  Church  and  the  world  if 
these  men  would  be  honest  and  go  outside  the  Church. 
The  man  who  has  lost  his  sense  of  the  need  of  blood- 
cleansing  from  sin  has  no  right  to  stand  and  call  himself  a 
messenger  of  Christ.  The  Sanhedrim  laughed  at  the 
Cross.  And  yet  in  that  Cross  there  is  being  shown  forth 
before  the  gaze  of  heaven  and  in  the  presence  of  men,  so 
sadly  blinded  that  they  cannot  understand,  the  wisdom  of 
God.  In  the  foolishness  of  Christ's  Cross  there  flames 
out  the  glory  of  the  Eternal  Wisdom,  for  what  man  has 
never  been  able  to  do  will  be  done  through  that  Cross. 
And  the  very  people  who  have  become  brutalized,  and  de- 
graded, and  wrapped  in  the  grave  clothes  of  ritualism,  by 
the  Sanhedrim  and  the  priests ;  will  cast  aside  their  grave 
clothes,  and  pass  into  nobler  life  by  the  way  of  that  Cross 
of  shame. 

Oh,  how  foolish  and  pitiable  is  the  mockery  of  the  Cross 
by  the  wisdom  of  the  world ! 

1  Matt.  27  :  42. 


342  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Look  for  one  moment  upon  the  multitudes  around,  the 
great  shepherdless  crowd.  That  was  Christ's  picture  of 
them,  sheep  having  no  shepherd.  How  perplexed,  how 
disappointed  many  of  them  must  have  been  that  day.  For 
three  years  they  had  followed  a  Leader,  a  Deliverer,  fol- 
lowed Him  foolishly,  it  is  true,  not  from  high  motive,  and 
never  able  thoroughly  to  appreciate  Him.  Moved  by  the 
signs  of  His  power,  and  drawn  by  the  tenderness  of  His 
compassion,  they  have  followed  still,  though  imperfectly, 
and  now  the  end  of  it  is  His  crucifixion.  They  had 
hoped  that  "  it  was  He  Who  should  redeem  Israel,"  ^  and 
now  He  is  nailed  to  the  Roman,  and  the  cursed,  tree. 
Jesus  had  spoken  of  them  as  being  without  a  shepherd,  and 
many  of  them  had  come  to  hope  that  perhaps  He  was  their 
Shepherd.  Oh,  could  they  but  see.  He  was  indeed  the 
good  Shepherd,  and  in  the  mystery  of  that  awful  Cross,  He 
was  laying  down  His  life  for  them  !  Presently  they  will 
come  back,  by  tens,  by  hundreds,  and  by  thousands.  Never 
tell  me  that  Christ's  ministry  was  a  failure.  It  has  some- 
times been  said  that  He  only  gathered  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty  disciples.  But  let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  the 
results  of  the  preaching  of  Jesus  were  gathered  upon  the  day 
of  Pentecost,  and  gathered  wherever  those  men  afterwards 
proclaimed  His  death  and  resurrection.  In  the  days  of 
His  public  ministry  He  had  done  what  He  is  now  doing  in 
the  present  day.  He  gathered  a  few  in  association  with 
Himself,  as  He  is  now  calling  out  the  Church  to  Himself; 
but  He  prepared  thousands  of  others  to  be  gathered  in,  in 
the  fullness  of  time,  as  He  is  now  preparing  the  whole 
world  for  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  that  shall  succeed 
the  present  dispensation  and  economy.  And  of  those 
multitudes  around  the  Cross  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
'  Luke  24:  21. 


The  Representative  Crowds  343 

presently  many  came  to  know  Him  as  the  good  Shepherd 
Who  had  laid  down  His  life  for  the  sheep. 

Luke  alone  refers  to  the  fact  of  the  presence  of  His  ac- 
quaintance at  the  Cross.  The  reference  is  undoubtedly  to 
His  kinsfolk  and  His  neighbours  from  Nazareth,  and  their 
presence  may  be  suggestive  of  a  deepened  interest.  In  all 
probability  His  own  brothers,  the  sons  of  Mary,  were 
among-  the  number.  It  would  seem  as  though  James,  the 
author  of  the  epistle,  who  was  undoubtedly  the  Lord's  own 
brother,  did  not  come  into  true  sympathy  with  Him  during 
the  life  of  Jesus.  May  it  not  be  that  in  the  presence  of 
that  Cross  and  through  the  events  following,  he  was  led  to 
a  knowledge  of  the  truth  concerning  the  Master?  In  the 
attitude  of  these  kinsfolk  and  acquaintance  of  Jesus,  and 
if  the  foregoing  supposition  concerning  His  own  brothers 
be  correct,  what  a  revelation  there  is  for  all  time  that 
familiarity  may  be  most  distant. 

Discipleship  was  represented  at  the  Cross  especially  by 
John.  He  seems  to  have  been  the  only  one  who  came 
very  near  the  place  of  his  Master's  suffering,  and  his  near- 
ness issued  in  the  sacred  charge  of  Mary,  which  was  com- 
mitted to  him  by  his  dying  Lord. 

Looking  back  at  that  whole  scene,  how  truly  remarkable 
it  is.  The  first  impression  is  that  of  a  Roman  gibbet  sur- 
rounded by  a  promiscuous  mob,  while  one  frail,  weak  Man 
finds  relief  from  overwhelming  agony  in  the  act  of  death. 
But  look  again,  and  it  is  seen  to  be  the  place  of  a  throne. 
The  throne  is  occupied  by  One  Who  is  at  once  King  and 
Judge,  finding  verdicts  and  pronouncing  sentences,  and  all 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Cross  are  judged  by  the  Cross. 
His  dying  is  the  condemnation  of  evil  in  every  form.  His 
dying  is  the  pathway  of  deliverance  for  those  who  at  the 
Cross  turn  from  the  things  the  Cross  condemns,  to  put  their 


344  'The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

trust  in  Him.     Such  He  leads  by  the  way  of  the  Cross  to 
the  broad  life  that  stretches  away  on  the  other  side. 

"  I  take,  O  Cross,  thy  shadow. 

For  my  abiding  place  ; 
I  ask  no  other  sunshine 

Than  the  sunshine  of  thy  face. 
Content  to  let  the  world  go  by. 

To  know  no  shame  nor  loss. 
My  sinful  self  my  only  shame, 

My  glory  all  the  Cross."  • 

»  E.  C.  Clephane. 


BOOK  VI 

THE  RESURRECTION 


XXV.  Perfect  Victory 
XXVI.  The  Divine  Seal 
XXVII.  Faith's  Anchorage 


**  The  foe  behind^  the  deep  before^ 

Our  hosts  have  dared  and  passed  the  sea  * 
And  Pharaoh' s  warriors  strew  the  shore^ 

And  Israel's  ransom'd  tribes  are  free. 
Lift  up^  lift  up  your  voices  now  ! 
The  whole  wide  world  rejoices  now  ! 
Happy  mornings  Turning  sorrow 
Into  peace  and  mirth  ! 
Bondage  ending.,  Love  descending 

O'er  the  earth  ! 
Seals  assuring.,  Guards  securing., 

Watch  His  earthly  prison. 
Seals  are  shattered.,  Guards  are  scattered^ 
Christ  hath  risen  ! 

*'  No  longer  must  the  mourners  weep. 
Nor  call  departed  Christians  dead  I 
For  death  is  hallowed  into  sleepy 

And  ev'ry  grave  becomes  a  bed. 
Now  once  more 
Eden's  door 

Open  stands  to  mortal  eyes ; 
For  Christ  hath  risen^  and  man  shall  rise  ! 
Now  at  last., 

Old  things  past., 

Hope.,  and  joy.,  and  peace  begin  ; 
For  Christ  hath  won.,  and  man  shall  win  ! 
It  is  not  exile.,  rest  on  high  : 

It  is  not  sadness,  peace  from  strife ; 
To  fall  asleep  is  not  to  die  : 

To  dwell  with  Christ  is  better  life. 
Where  our  banner  leads  us. 

We  may  safely  go : 
Where  our  Chief  precedes  us. 

We  ?nay  face  the  foe. 
His  right  arm  is  o'er  us. 
He  our  Guide  will  be  : 
Christ  hath  gone  before  us. 
Christians,  follow  ye  !  " 

— Dr.  Neale. 


Now  late  on  the  sabbath  day,  as  it  began  to  dawn  toward  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  came  Mary  Magdalene  and  the  other  Mary 
to  see  the  sepulchre.  And  behold,  there  was  a  great  earthquake  ; 
for  an  angel  of  the  Lord  descended  from  heaven,  and  came  and 
rolled  away  the  stone,  and  sat  upon  it.  His  appearance  was  as 
lightning,  and  his  raiment  white  as  snow  :  and  for  fear  of  him  the 
watchers  did  quake,  and  became  as  dead  men.  And  the  angel  an- 
swered and  said  unto  the  women.  Fear  not  ye  ;  for  I  know  that  ye 
seek  Jesus,  Who  hath  been  crucified.  He  is  not  here  ;  for  He  is 
risen,  even  as  He  said.  Come,  see  the  place  where  the  Lord  lay. 
And  go  quickly,  and  tell  His  disciples.  He  is  risen  from  the  dead ; 
and  lo.  He  goeth  before  you  into  Galilee ;  there  shall  ye  see  Him  : 
lo,  I  have  told  you.  And  they  departed  quickly  from  the  tomb 
with  fear  and  great  joy,  and  ran  to  bring  His  disciples  word. — 
Matt.  28 : 1-8. 


And  when  the  Sabbath  was  past,  Mary  Magdalene,  and  Mary 
the  mother  of  James,  and  Salome,  bought  spices,  that  they  might 
come  and  anoint  Him.  And  very  early  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  they  come  to  the  tomb  when  the  sun  was  risen.  And  they 
were  saying  among  themselves.  Who  shall  roll  us  away  the  stone 
from  the  door  of  the  tomb  ?  and  looking  up,  they  see  that  the  stone 
is  rolled  back  :  for  it  was  exceeding  great.  And  entering  into  the 
tomb,  they  saw  a  young  man  sitting  on  the  right  side,  arrayed  in  a 
white  robe  ;  and  they  were  amazed.  And  he  saith  unto  them.  Be 
not  amazed  :  ye  seek  Jesus,  the  Nazarene,  Who  hath  been  cruci- 
fied :  He  is  risen ;  He  is  not  here :  behold,  the  place  where  they 
laid  Him !  But  go,  tell  His  disciples  and  Peter,  He  goeth  before 
you  into  Galilee :  there  shall  ye  see  Him,  as  He  said  unto  you. 
And  they  went  out,  and  fled  from  the  tomb ;  for  trembling  and  as- 
tonishment had  come  upon  them  :  and  they  said  nothing  to  any 
one  ;  for  they  were  afraid. 

Now  when  He  was  risen  early  on  the  first  day  of  the  week.  He 
appeared  first  to  Mary  Magdalene,  from  whom  He  had  cast  out 
seven  demons.  She  went  and  told  them  that  had  been  with  Him, 
as  they  mourned  and  wept.  And  they  when  they  heard  that  He 
was  alive,  and  had  been  seen  of  her,  disbelieved. — Mark  16  :  l-ll. 
He  *  *  *  ^  ^ic  * 

But  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  at  early  dawn,  they  came  unto 
the  tomb,  bringing  the  spices  which  they  had  prepared.     And  they 

347 


found  the  stone  rolled  away  from  the  tomb.  And  they  entered  in, 
and  found  not  the  body  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  And  it  came  to  pass, 
while  they  were  perplexed  thereabout,  behold,  two  men  stood  by 
them  in  dazzling  apparel :  and  as  they  were  affrighted  and  bowed 
down  their  faces  to  the  earth,  they  said  unto  them.  Why  seek  ye 
the  living  among  the  dead  ?  He  is  not  here,  but  is  risen  :  remem- 
ber how  He  spake  unto  you  when  He  was  yet  in  Galilee,  saying 
that  the  Son  of  Man  must  be  delivered  up  into  the  hands  of  sinful 
men,  and  be  crucified,  and  the  third  day  rise  again.  And  they  re- 
membered His  words,  and  returned  from  the  tomb,  and  told  all 
these  things  to  the  eleven,  and  to  all  the  rest.  Now  they  were 
Mary  Magdalene,  and  Joanna,  and  Mary  the  mother  of  James : 
and  the  other  women  with  them  told  these  things  unto  the  apos- 
tles. And  these  words  appeared  in  their  sight  as  idle  talk ;  and 
they  disbelieved  them.  But  Peter  arose,  and  ran  unto  the  tomb ; 
and  stooping  and  looking  in,  he  seeth  the  linen  cloths  by  them- 
selves ;  and  he  departed  to  his  home,  wondering  at  that  which  was 
come  to  pass. — Luke  24  : 1-12. 


Now  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  cometh  Mary  Magdalene 
early,  while  it  was  yet  dark,  unto  the  tomb,  and  seeth  the  stone 
taken  away  from  the  tomb.  She  runneth  therefore,  and  cometh  to 
Simon  Peter,  and  to  the  other  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved,  and  saith 
unto  them.  They  have  taken  away  the  Lord  out  of  the  tomb,  and 
we  know  not  where  they  have  laid  Him.  Peter  therefore  went 
forth,  and  the  other  disciple,  and  they  went  toward  the  tomb. 
And  they  ran  both  together :  and  the  other  disciple  outran  Peter, 
and  came  first  to  the  tomb ;  and  stooping  and  looking  in,  he  seeth 
the  linen  cloths  lying ;  yet  entered  he  not  in.  Simon  Peter  there- 
fore also  cometh,  following  him,  and  entered  into  the  tomb ;  and 
he  beholdeth  the  linen  cloths  lying,  and  the  napkin,  that  was  upon 
His  head,  not  lying  with  the  linen  cloths,  but  rolled  up  in  a  place  by 
itself.  Then  entered  in  therefore  the  other  disciple  also,  who  came 
first  to  the  tomb,  and  he  saw,  and  believed.  For  as  yet  they  knew 
not  the  Scripture,  that  He  must  rise  again  from  the  dead.  So  the 
disciples  went  away  again  unto  their  own  home. 

But  Mary  was  standing  without  at  the  tomb  weeping  :  so,  as  she 
wept,  she  stooped  and  looked  into  the  tomb ;  and  she  beholdeth 
two  angels  in  white  sitting,  one  at  the  head,  and  one  at  the  feet, 
where  the  body  of  Jesus  had  lain.  And  they  say  unto  her.  Woman, 
why  weepest  thou  ?  She  saith  unto  them.  Because  they  have 
taken  away  my  Lord,  and  I  know  not  where  they  have  laid  Him. 

348 


When  she  had  thus  said,  she  turned  herself  back,  and  beholdeth 
Jesus  standing,  and  knew  not  that  it  was  Jesus.  Jesus  saith  unto 
her.  Woman  why  weepest  thou  ?  whom  seekest  thou  ?  She,  sup- 
posing Him  to  be  the  gardener,  saith  unto  Him,  Sir,  if  Thou  hast 
borne  Him  hence,  tell  me  where  Thou  hast  laid  Him,  and  I  will 
take  Him  away.  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Mary.  She  turneth  herself, 
and  saith  unto  Him  in  Hebrew,  Rabboni ;  which  is  to  say.  Teacher. 
Jesus  saith  to  her.  Touch  Me  not ;  for  I  am  not  yet  ascended  unto 
the  Father  :  but  go  unto  My  brethren,  and  say  to  them,  I  ascend 
unto  My  Father  and  your  Father,  and  My  God  and  your  God. 
Mary  Magdalene  cometh  and  telleth  the  disciples,  I  have  seen  the 
Lord ;  and  that  He  had  said  these  things  unto  her. — John  20 : 
1-18. 


349 


XXV 
PERFECT  VICTORY 

In  considering  the  crisis  of  the  resurrection,  arguments 
for  the  actual  historical  fact  will  be  taken  in  the  last  sec- 
tion. First  assuming  the  fact,  its  value  as  a  demonstra- 
tion of  Christ's  perfect  victory  will  be  considered. 

Referring  again  to  Peter's  discourse  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost, a  most  remarkable  epitome  of  Christian  doctrine,  there 
will  be  found  an  argument  concerning  the  resurrection 
which  is  briefly  stated  in  the  words  "  It  was  not  possible 
that  He  should  be  holden  of  it,"  and  is  defended  by  quo- 
tation from  ancient  Scripture,  full  of  value  and  of  suggest- 
iveness.  It  will  be  well  to  read  in  full,  Peter's  statement, 
and  the  Psalm  from  which  it  is  quoted.  Having  set  the 
Cross  in  relation  to  the  sin  of  man,  and  the  grace  of  God, 
the  apostle  continued, 

*'  Whom  God  raised  up,  having  loosed  the  pangs  of 
death  :  because  it  was  not  possible  that  He  should  be  holden 
of  it.     For  David  saith  concerning  Him, 


"  I  beheld  the  Lord  always  before  My  face ; 
For  He  is  on  My  right  hand,  that  I  should  not  be  moved ; 
Therefore  My  heart  was  glad,  and  My  tongue  rejoiced ; 
Moreover  My  flesh  also  shall  dwell  in  hope  : 
Because  Thou  wilt  not  leave  My  soul  unto  Hades, 
Neither  wilt  Thou  give  Thy  Holy  One  to  see  corruption. 
Thou  madest  known  unto  Me  the  ways  of  life  ; 
Thou  shalt  make  Me  full  of  gladness  with  Thy  countenance."* 

*  Acts  2 :  24-28. 
351 


352  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

The  actual  words  of  the  Psalm  quoted,  as  they  appear  in 
the  Old  Testament  are  as  follows, 

"  I  have  set  Jehovah  always  before  Me  : 
Because  He  is  at  My  right  hand,  I  shall  not  be  moved. 
Therefore  My  heart  is  glad,  and  My  glory  rejoiceth  : 
My  flesh  also  shall  dwell  in  safety. 
For  Thou  wilt  not  leave  My  soul  to  Sheol ; 
Neither  wilt  Thou  suffer  Thy  holy  One  to  see  corruption. 
Thou  wilt  show  Me  the  path  of  life : 
In  Thy  presence  is  fullness  of  joy  ; 
In  Thy  right  hand  there  are  pleasures  forevermore."^ 

Perhaps  the  true  values  of  the  simple  statement  of  the  apostle 
may  be  gathered,  by  laying  emphasis  upon  the  pronoun 
having  reference  to  Jesus,  and  the  final  one  referring  to 
death.  "  It  was  not  possible  that  He  should  be  holden  of 
it."  In  this  way  the  statement  is  seen  to  be  a  sublime  and 
magnificent  one,  in  which  the  apostle,  conscious  of  the  vic- 
tory Jesus  had  won  in  life  and  death,  treats  almost  with 
contempt  the  last  enemy. 

"  He  "  that  is  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  a  Man  approved  of 
God  unto  you  by  mighty  works  and  wonders  and  signs," 
the  One  Who  "  being  delivered  up  by  the  determinate 
counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God,  ye  by  the  hand  of  law- 
less men  did  crucify  and  slay."  This  same  Person,  God 
"  raised  up,  having  loosed  the  pangs  of  death  :  because  it 
was  not  possible  that  He  should  be  holden  of  it."^  The 
unifying  fact  in  the  whole  discourse  is  the  Person  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  and  having  set  in  order  the  movements  of  that 
wonderful  life,  the  apostle  now  declares  that  God  raised 
Him  because  He  was  bound  to  raise  Him.  Not  to  have 
done  so,  if  this  may  be  reverently  supposed,  would  have 
been  to  have  violated  every  principle  of  law.     The  neces- 

'Psalm  i6:8-ii.  »  Acts  2 :  22-24. 


Perfect  Victory  353 

sities  of  the  Divine  nature  demanded  it.  The  eternal  order 
required  it.  If  death  had  held  Him,  the  issue  must  have 
been  disorder,  and  the  defeat  of  all  the  purposes  of  God. 

So  far  this  is  a  bare  statement.  It  remains  now  to  con- 
sider why  "  it  was  not  possible  that  He  should  be  holden  of 
it."  This  is  revealed  in  the  apostle's  use  of  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Psalmist.  Peter  distinctly  declared  that  what 
David  wrote,  he  wrote  concerning  Christ,  and  was  careful 
by  subsequent  statements  to  show  that  the  language  of  the 
Psalmist  could  not  have  been  fulfilled  by  the  experience  of 
the  one  who  wrote  it ;  but  its  perfect  fulfillment  was  in  the 
Person  and  victory  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

Turning  to  the  Psalm,  let  it  be  carefully  noted  that  its 
gladness  is  caused  by  the  fact  of  resurrection,  and  that 
resurrection  is  the  necessary  outcome  of  a  threefold  fact  in 
the  character  and  conduct  of  the  One  so  rejoicing.  These 
facts  may  thus  be  tabulated.  First,  "  I  beheld  the  Lord 
always  before  My  face."  Second,  "  For  He  is  on  My 
right  hand,  that  I  should  not  be  moved."  Third,  "  There- 
fore My  heart  was  glad,  and  My  tongue  rejoiced  ;  More- 
over My  flesh  also  shall  dwell  in  hope  :  Because  Thou  wilt 
not  leave  My  soul  unto  Hades,  Neither  wilt  Thou  give 
Thy  Holy  One  to  see  corruption."  The  issue  of  this  three- 
fold assertion  is  "  Thou  madest  known  unto  Me  the  ways 
of  life  ;  Thou  shalt  make  Me  full  of  gladness  with  Thy 
countenance."  ^ 

The  distinction  between  the  three  facts,  issuing  in  resur- 
rection may  not  be  clear,  and  yet  on  close  examination  .r 
will  be  found  that  they  indicate  the  threefold  victory  of 
Christ,  which  captured  the  whole  ground  of  death's  domain, 
and  made  necessary  the  resurrection.  This  threefold  vic- 
tory may  be  stated,  and  then  considered  as,  first,  victory 
1  Acts  2 :  25-28. 


354  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

over  the  possibility  of  originating  evil ;  second,  victory 
over  evil  as  suggested  from  without  j  and  third,  victory  over 
evil  as  responsibility  assumed. 

I.  Victory  over  the  possibility  of  originating  evil,  is  sug- 
gested by  the  first  statement,  "  I  beheld  the  Lord  always 
before  My  face."  Jesus  was,  in  some  respects,  an  entirely 
new  creation.  He  indeed  stood  in  the  same  relation  to  God 
as  that  occupied  by  the  angels,  who  were  created  prior  to 
man.  In  emptying  Himself  of  the  form  of  God,  it  is  first 
stated  that  He  took  upon  Him  the  form  of  a  Servant.  That 
is  a  fact  even  deeper  than  that  He  was  made  in  the  likeness 
of  men.  In  this  stoop  of  the  Eternal  Son,  He  passed,  as 
has  been  seen  in  a  previous  chapter,  from  the  place  of 
Sovereignty  to  the  place  of  submission.  In  that  very  fact, 
there  is  the  possibility  of  a  new  beginning  of  sin.  The  fall 
of  Satan  can  only  be  comprehended  by  recognizing  that  as 
to  his  original  creation  he  was  made  a  servant  of  God.  All 
the  powers  of  his  being  were  to  act  under  the  direction  of 
the  Eternal.  There  was  to  be  no  choice  of  the  will  save 
under  the  guiding  principle  of  the  will  of  God.  He  was 
created  with  his  face  towards  God,  and  the  secret  of  his 
fulfillment  of  the  highest  possibilities  of  his  marvellous 
being  lay  in  his  setting  the  Lord  always  before  his  face. 
His  fall  consisted  in  the  fact,  to  continue  the  figure,  that 
he  set  before  his  face  another  purpose,  another  reason,  and 
thus  turned  his  back  upon  Jehovah.  The  new  Servant  of 
God  in  all  the  facts  of  His  being  was  able  to  say,  "  I  have 
set  Jehovah  always  before  My  face."  When  divesting 
Himself  of  the  form  of  Deity,  He  took  the  form  of  a  Serv- 
ant, and  entered  upon  the  life  of  subjectivity.  He  stood 
in  a  place  where  it  was  within  the  possibility  of  His 
nature  to   act   apart   from   the   governmental   direction   of 


Perfect  Victory  355 

Jehovah.  This  He  never  did.  Jude  the  apostle  declares 
in  what  lay  the  sin  of  the  angels.  "  Angels  that  kept  not 
their  own  principality,  but  left  their  proper  habitation."  ^ 
Let  it  be  carefully  noted  that  their  leaving  their  proper 
habitation  was  not  the  punishment  of  their  sin,  but  the  sin 
itself.  They  refused  to  remain  in  the  habitation  marked 
out  for  them  by  the  law  of  God.  The  punishment  of  their 
sin  lies  in  its  sequence,  that  they  are  cast  forth  from  their 
habitation  by  their  own  act,  they  are  reserved  in  the  bonds 
or  limitations  of  their  false  position  "  under  darkness  unto 
the  judgment  of  the  great  day."  Their  own  principality, 
that  is,  the  realm  over  which  God  had  intended  them  to 
rule,  they  did  not  keep,  because  they  left  their  habitation. 
They  turned  their  back  upon  Jehovah.  Here,  so  far  as  has 
been  revealed,  is  the  primal  origin  of  sin  in  the  universe  of 
God.  Instead  of  exercising  the  magnificent  endowment 
of  will  under  the  governing  principle  of  the  will  of  God, 
they  exercised  it  under  another  domination,  that  namely  of 
their  own  desire,  and  then  turning  their  backs  upon  God 
they  left  their  proper  habitation,  their  first  habita- 
tion. 

Herein  by  contrast  is  manifested  the  first  fact  in  the  mar- 
vellous victory  of  Jesus.  He,  the  new  Servant  of  God 
kept  His  principality  by  abiding  in  His  true  habitation.  He 
never  exercised  will  under  the  constraint  of  desire,  but 
always  setting  Jehovah  before  His  face.  He  lived  in  un- 
ceasing and  glad  response  to  all  the  volition  of  that  will 
of  infinite  wisdom,  of  perfect  holiness,  and  unfathomable 
love.  The  first  phase  of  the  victory  of  Jesus  was  therefore 
that  of  victory  over  the  possibility  of  sinning,  by  the  pros- 
titution of  will  power,  without  suggestion  made  from 
without. 

>  Jude  6. 


3^6  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

II.  The  next  phase  of  the  victory  is  marked  by  the 
words,  "  For  He  is  on  My  right  hand,  that  I  should  not  be 
moved."  ^  Here  is  something  distinct  from  that  already 
considered.  The  first  fact  may  be  stated  by  the  declaration, 
I  have  not  moved.  But  here  it  is,  I  should  not  be  moved. 
That  is  to  say,  not  merely  that  there  has  been  no  movement 
from  the  place  of  submission  to  the  Divine  will,  simply  on 
the  basis  of  personal  choice  ;  but  also  that  there  has  been 
no  movement  from  that  position  in  response  to  suggestion 
or  temptation  from  without.  It  is  here  that  man  fell.  The 
fall  of  the  angels  was  that  of  ceasing  to  set  the  Lord  before 
their  face,  acting  upon  their  own  initiative.  The  fall  of 
man  consisted  in  his  allowing  himself  to  be  moved  from  his 
loyalty  to  God,  in  response  to  a  suggestion  coming  to  him 
from  without  himself.  Man  did  not  originate  sin.  He  fell 
under  the  power  of  it  by  yielding  to  an  attack  made  upon 
him  from  without.  In  this  realm  also  Jesus  was  victorious. 
Having  held  the  citadel  of  His  will  against  the  possi- 
bilities of  His  subservient  position.  He  held  it  moreover, 
against  all  attacks  of  the  enemy  from  without.  Recogniz- 
ing the  presence  of  God  Who  was  at  His  right  hand  as  a 
wall  of  defence.  He  ever  acted  by  remaining  in  such  posi- 
tion, so  that  God  was  between  Him  and  every  attack  of  the 
enemy ;  and  thus  the  second  phase  of  His  victory  over  sin 
is  that  of  remaining  unmoved,  in  spite  of  every  attack  of 
the  foe  to  change  His  relationship  to  God,  by  moving  Him 
from  the  sphere  of  perfect  trust. 

III.  But  now  follows  a  victory,  if  possible  more  re- 
markable. At  least  it  may  be  said  to  be  of  even  pro- 
founder  interest  to  man,  for  in  it  lies  the  great  pathway  of 
his  own  escape  from  the  guilt  and  power  of  sin.     Let  the 

•  Acts  2 :  25. 


Perfect  Victory  357 

examination  be  careful.  "  Therefore  My  heart  was  glad, 
and  My  tongue  rejoiced."  '  Why  ?  Because  having  be- 
held the  Lord  always  before  His  face,  there  had  been  per- 
fect victory  over  the  possibility  of  the  origination  of  sin, 
and  because  having  recognized  always  the  presence  of 
Jehovah  at  His  right  hand.  He  had  not  been  moved. 
Therefore  His  heart  was  glad,  glad  in  the  victories  won, 
and  in  the  strength  of  righteousness  resulting.  Again  the 
question  comes,  Why  was  He  glad  of  the  victory  ?  Was 
it  simply  because  of  the  triumph  ?  Surely  that,  and  surely 
more.  That  double  triumph  creates  the  strength  for  an- 
other triumph.  His  heart.  His  tongue.  His  flesh  rejoice 
because  "  Thou  wilt  not  leave  My  soul  unto  Hades, 
Neither  wilt  Thou  give  Thy  Holy  One  to  see  corruption." 
It  is  evident  that  this  victorious  Person  intends  passing  into 
Hades.  He  is  going  to  death,  and  through  death  into 
Sheol.  But  because  of  the  first  victories,  it  is  now  certain 
that  death  and  Hades  cannot  hold  Him.  God  must  raise 
Him,  and  bring  Him  back  into  life.  Herein  lies  the  ex- 
planation of  the  triumphant  notes.  I  rejoice.  My  heart 
is  glad.  My  tongue  rejoiceth,  My  flesh  rests  in  hope.  The 
great  Person,  Who  in  experience  fulfilled  this  song  of  the 
past,  declares  that  because  He  has  set  the  Lord  before  His 
face,  because,  having  the  Lord  at  His  right  hand  He  has 
not  been  moved,  when  He  descends  into  Hades,  God  can- 
not abandon  Him.  He  must  bring  Him  forth  again,  and 
the  final  note  of  triumph  issuing  upon  this  double  victory 
achieved,  and  third  victory  assured,  is  expressed  in  the 
words  "  Thou  madest  known  unto  Me  the  ways  of  life ; 
Thou  shalt  make  Me  full  of  gladness  with  Thy  counte- 
nance." ^ 

Here  again  the   question    forces   itself   upon    the   mind. 

•  Acts  2 :  26.  «  Acts  2  :  28. 


358  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Why  did  this  Holy  One  pass  into  Hades  ?  The  answer  is 
already  in  our  possession  from  the  study  of  the  former 
crisis  in  the  life  and  mission  of  the  Christ.  As  the  Lamb 
of  God  He  had  made  Himself  responsible  for  the  sin  of  the 
world,  and  the  issue  of  that  responsibility  was  death,  essen- 
tial death,  the  separation  of  the  spirit  from  God,  and  death 
expressed  in  the  separation  of  the  spirit  from  the  body.  To 
that  issue  the  perfect  One  Who  had  assumed  the  responsi- 
bility of  all  human  guilt,  passed  by  the  way  of  the  Cross. 
In  the  deep  and  unfathomable  mystery  of  the  Cross,  His 
Spirit  was  separated  from  God,  and  that  Spirit  separated 
also  from  the  body,  passed  down  into  Hades.  Think 
reverently,  and  in  solemn  stillness  of  this  fact  in  God's 
universe.  One  Who  has  obtained  a  double  victory  over 
sin,  as  a  possibility  within  the  very  nature  of  the  subserv- 
ient life,  and  over  sin  as  a  suggestion  made  by  a  foe  with- 
out, has  taken  upon  Himself  the  responsibility  of  the  sin 
of  a  race,  and  in  those  solemn  hours  between  the  passing 
of  the  Spirit  of  Christ  on  the  Cross,  and  the  resurrection 
morning,  the  holy  body  of  the  Man  lies  in  the  tomb.  His 
Spirit  has  passed  into  hell,  the  place  of  lost  spirits.  Now 
hear  His  words.  "  Thou  wilt  not  leave  My  soul  unto 
Hades."  In  the  mystery  of  the  Cross,  all  the  penalty  of 
sin  has  been  borne.  In  the  place  of  fire  there  is  no  pain 
for  the  Holy  One,  Who  has  exhausted  all  its  fierceness  in 
the  terrible  experience  of  His  Passion.  In  His  body  has 
He  borne  man's  sin,  and  that  work  having  been  as  He  said 
finished,  the  corruption  which  means  the  disintegration  of 
the  body,  cannot  touch  Him.  "  Thou  wilt  not  give  Thy 
Holy  One  to  see  corruption." 

In  that  great  expression  of  triumph  which  Peter  quoted, 
there  is  evident  the  twofold  nature  of  the  perfect  Man,  and 
in  both  realms  there  is  the  cry  of  victory.     His  soul  can- 


Perfect  Victory  359 

not  be  left  in  Hades.  The  body  cannot  see  corruption. 
Here  then  is  the  third  fact  of  the  victory.  The  penalty  of 
death,  in  its  first  and  deep  meaning,  was  due  to  sin.  He 
took  sin,  and  because  there  was  no  place  for  death  in  His 
life,  by  dying  He  exhausted  the  penalty  due  to  some  one 
else.  Thus  in  the  moral  realm  His  death  has  created  a 
new  value,  a  value  that  He  does  not  require  for  Himself, 
but  that  He  holds  for  others.  Here  then  is  evident  the 
reason  of  Peter's  confident  affirmation.  "  It  was  impossible 
that  He  should  be  holden  of  it."  "  It "  was  the  issue  of 
sin.  "  He  "  is  Victor  over  sin  as  to  the  possibility  of  origina- 
tion, as  a  suggestion  coming  from  without,  as  a  terrible  fact 
for  which  He  has  made  Himself  responsible.  Having  thus 
gained  a  victory  over  every  conceivable  form  of  sin,  cover- 
ing the  whole  territory  of  its  domain,  death  cannot  hold 
Him. 

The  resurrection  therefore  is  the  unanswerable  argu- 
ment for  the  accomplishment  by  Jesus  Christ,  of  God's 
purpose  of  destroying  the  works  of  the  devil.  There  are 
infinite  possibilities  of  application.  Let  it  only  be  said 
that  it  is  from  the  empty  grave  that  the  true  song  of  hope 
has  sounded.  Every  worker  with  God  is  conscious  of  the 
presence  of  evil  in  the  world.  Let  that  consciousness  al- 
ways be  held  in  connection  with  the  glorious  fact  that  over 
all,  Christ  is  absolute  Master.  /The  Church  is  not  fighting 
a  conflict,  the  issue  of  which  is  uncertain.  The  victory 
has  been  won,  and  therefore  it  must  be  won.  The  battle 
often  thickens,  and  presses  upon  the  weary  soldiers  of  the 
King,  but  these  are  but  conflicts  of  administration.  There 
is  no  question  left  as  to  the  final  issue.  Sometimes  the  proc- 
ess may  seem  tedious,  and  the  waiting  long,  and  yet  this  is 
but  false  seeming.  The  movements  of  God  must  never  be 
measured  by  the  slowness  of  a  human  life,  or  by  the  inade- 


360  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

quacy  of  an  earthly  almanac.  Standing  by  that  risen  Man 
of  Nazareth,  each  one  putting  trust  in  Him  may  say  with 
reverence  and  holy  fear,  and  yet  with  certainty  and  abso- 
lute boldness.  My  heart  is  glad,  my  tongue  rejoices,  my 
flesh  also  shall  dwell  in  hope.  He  has  won  His  victories, 
and  evil  is  doomed.  Therefore,  at  last  the  victory  of  souls 
trusting  in  Him  must  also  be  won.  The  glories  of  the 
resurrection  demonstrate  forever  the  absolute  and  final 
victory  of  the  Man  of  Nazareth  over  every  form  and  force 
of  evil. 


XXVI 

THE  DIVINE  SEAL 

The  supreme  value  of  the  resurrection  lies  in  the  fact 
that  it  was  a  Divine  act,  by  which  God  gave  attestation  to 
His  perfect  satisfaction  with  the  work  of  Christ.  It  is 
well  to  remember  that  the  deepest  question  of  all  for  the 
heart  of  man  is  not  whether  he  is  satisfied,  but  whether 
God  is  satisfied. 

In  the  contemplation  of  the  matchless  beauty  of  the  life 
of  Jesus,  the  heart  of  man  may  have  found  perfect  satis- 
faction. Standing  on  the  margin  of  the  mystery  of  His 
Passion,  the  deepest  consciousness  of  the  life  may  have 
been  that  of  the  sufficiency  of  the  work  wrought  for  per- 
sonal redemption.  And  yet  so  perpetually  has  the  mind  of 
man  been  at  fault,  that  not  in  its  own  satisfaction  can  it 
find  its  deepest  rest.  Therefore  it  is  that  the  question  of 
greatest  moment  is  as  to  whether  God  has  found  in  the 
life  and  death  of  His  Son,  that  which  has  accomplished  His 
purpose,  and  will  issue  in  blessing  to  men,  and  the  glory  of 
His  name. 

The  answer  to  all  this  questioning  is  found  in  the  resur- 
rection. In  the  passage  which  perhaps  is  the  most  remark- 
able of  all  the  utterances  of  Christ  concerning  His  Passion, 
He  declares  "  Therefore  doth  the  Father  love  Me,  because 
I  lay  down  My  life,  that  I  may  take  it  again.  No  one 
taketh  it  away  from  Me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of  Myself.  I 
have  power  to  lay  it  down,  and  I  have  power  to  take  it 
again.  This  commandment  received  I  from  My  Father."^ 
i  John  lo  :  17,  18. 

361 


362  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

This  is  so  strange  a  statement  as  to  baffle  all  attempts  at 
explanation.  Its  correctness,  however,  is  demonstrated  by 
the  fact  that  He  did  lay  down  His  life,  and  that  He  did 
take  it  again.  Carefully  note.  He  claims  His  right  to  do 
this  was  received  from  His  Father.  Thus  the  whole  work 
committed  to  Jesus  by  the  Father  was  that  of  laying  down 
through  death  His  perfect  life  for  the  making  of  Atone- 
ment, and  right  to  lay  hold  again  upon  that  life  for  its 
communication  to  others,  as  the  context  shows. 

The  proof  then  that  the  work  of  the  Cross  was  perfect 
lies  in  the  fact  that  He  not  only  laid  down  His  life,  but 
that  He  took  it  again,  thus  carrying  out  the  Divine  author- 
ity to  its  utmost  limit. 

In  writing  to  the  Ephesians  the  apostle  in  praying  for 
them  that  they  "  may  know  .  .  .  the  exceeding  great- 
ness of  His  power"  describes  it  as  the  power  "which  He 
wrought  in  Christ,  when  He  raised  Him  from  the  dead,  and 
made  Him  to  sit  at  His  right  hand  in  the  heavenly  places."^ 

Thus  it  is  evident  that  He,  Jesus,  laid  hold  upon  His 
own  life,  taking  it  again,  but  He  did  this  by  the  authority 
of  His  Father,  and  so  it  is  remarkably  true,  as  Paul  declares, 
that  His  resurrection  was  by  the  act  of  God.  There  is  no 
contradiction  in  these  two  statements,  but  rather  the  reve- 
lation of  that  perfect  harmony  of  action  between  the 
Father  and  the  Son,  which  characterized  the  whole  work 
of  Christ. 

The  resurrection  then  is  the  Divine  seal  upon  the  work 
of  Jesus,  as  perfectly  meeting  the  purpose  of  God.  In  ex- 
amining this,  notice  first  how  the  resurrection  was  the 
culminating  act,  marking  the  perfect  approbation  of  God ; 
secondly,  how  the  resurrection  was  the  final  act,  marking 
God's  rejection  of  man ;  and  thirdly  how  the  resurrection 
»  Eph.  1 :  18-20. 


The  Divine  Seal  363 

was  therefore  the  Divine  ratification  of  the  new  and  living 
way,  by  which  rejected  man  could  be  accepted. 

I.  It  has  been  seen  through  the  whole  progress  of  this 
study  how  that  again  and  again  in  different  ways,  God 
bore  testimony  to  the  sacred  nature  of  the  mission  of 
Christ,  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Eternal  heart  with  the 
outworking  of  the  Divine  purpose  in  history,  in  the  Person 
and  work  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  At  His  advent  when 
earth  gave  Him  no  welcome,  and  there  were  no  evidences 
of  preparation,  remarkable  signs  were  granted  to  the  sons 
of  men,  the  shining  of  the  star,  the  singing  of  the  angels, 
the  voices  of  prophecy,  the  moving  of  the  under  world  of 
evil,  the  coming  of  the  wise  men  from  afar.  During  the 
days  of  His  public  ministry  there  was  the  thrice  repeated 
breaking  of  the  silence  of  the  heavens  in  the  speech  of 
approval,  at  the  baptism,  at  the  transfiguration,  and  at  the 
coming  of  the  Greeks.  Moreover  through  all  those  days 
there  were  the  miracles  by  which  God  approved  Him 
among  men.  The  awful  and  supernatural  manifestations 
at  the  crucifixion  were  of  the  same  nature ;  the  earthquake, 
the  opening  of  graves,  the  darkening  of  the  sun,  the  rend- 
ing of  the  temple  veil. 

The  resurrection  is  the  central  and  supreme  declaration 
of  this  fact.  It  is  well  to  notice  that  associated  with  it 
was  the  resurrection  of  some  of  the  saints.  He  was  the 
First-fruit,  for  coming  forth  He  led  others  with  Him. 
The  account  of  the  rending  of  rocks,  and  opening  of 
graves,  which  were  among  the  supernatural  signs  attending 
the  crucifixion,  very  clearly  declares  that  though  the  graves 
were  opened,  the  saints  did  not  arise  until  the  day  of  resur- 
rection. That  opening  of  the  tombs  was  in  itself  a  wonder- 
ful thing,  but  none  could  move  from  them  until  He  had  risen. 


364  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

He  must  lead  the  way  forth.  Yet  the  very  graves  seem 
to  feel  upon  them  the  touch  of  the  hand  of  the  Master  of 
life,  and  the  earth  yawned  to  yield  to  Him  the  conquest  He 
was  winning.  The  Divine  seal  did  not  end  with  the 
resurrection.  His  ascension  was  by  the  act  of  God,  Who 
exalted  Him.  The  coming  of  the  Spirit  at  Pentecost  was 
God's  great  outpouring  of  the  new  force  of  redemption, 
and  was  consequent  upon  His  satisfaction  with  the  work 
of  His  Son. 

And  yet  again  in  the  glory  of  that  advent  which  is  to  be, 
the  Divine  approval  will  be  manifested  before  all  creation. 

The  value  of  the  resurrection  as  a  Divine  act,  is  three- 
fold. First  it  is  God's  attestation  of  the  perfection  of  the 
life  of  the  Man  Jesus.  Secondly  it  is  God's  attestation  of 
the  perfection  of  the  mediation  of  the  Saviour  Jesus. 
Thirdly  it  is  God's  attestation  of  the  perfection  of  the 
victory  of  the  King  Jesus.  Upon  all  the  virtue  of  His 
life,  and  the  value  of  His  death,  and  the  victory  of  His 
conflict,  God  set  the  seal  in  the  sight  of  heaven  and  earth 
and  hell,  when  raising  Him  from  the  dead.  He  fulfilled  the 
confident  assertion  of  the  old  time  Psalmist  concerning 
Him,  that  He  did  not  leave  His  soul  unto  Hades  nor  suffer 
His  Holy  One  to  see  corruption. 

n.  All  this  is  a  startling  and  terrible  fact  in  its  first  appli- 
cation to  fallen  and  degraded  humanity.  By  that  solemn  act 
of  God  in  the  midst  of  the  history  of  the  race,  an  act  in 
which  He  accepted  perfect  humanity,  He  rejected  all  im- 
perfection, and  forever  made  impossible  the  hope  that  any 
man  should  find  acceptance  with  Him  upon  any  other 
ground  than  that  of  a  perfect  realization  of  His  purpose 
and  His  will.  The  real  value  of  the  resurrection  will 
never  be  appreciated  save  as  this  fact  is  recognized.     The 


The  Divine  Seal  365 

risen  perfect  Man  was  the  condemnation  of  the  imperfect. 
In  the  midst  of  the  age,  in  the  sight  of  all  the  universe,  the 
Eternal  God  declares  that  He  cannot  and  will  not  be  satis- 
fied with  anything  short  of  the  fullest  realization  of  His 
perfect  purpose.  The  resurrection  of  Jesus  is  the  establish- 
ment in  the  midst  of  the  human  race  of  a  Divine  testimony 
concerning  righteousness.  In  that  magnificent  moment  of 
the  emergence  of  Jesus  from  death  into  life,  the  Eternal 
God  took  hold  upon  perfection,  and  setting  Him  in  the 
front  of  all  the  race,  declared  that  Jesus  was  His  standard 
of  human  life.  He  raised  Him  from  the  dead,  because  of 
His  perfect  realization  of  all  the  purposes  of  His  will.  By 
that  act  the  doom  of  imperfection  is  sounded.  If  that  be 
the  standard  of  the  acceptance  of  God,  then  all  such  as 
have  failed  are  rejected. 

The  resurrection  is  more  than  God's  acceptance  of  the 
perfect  Man.  It  is  His  acceptance  of  Him  as  the  Victor 
over  evil,  and  the  recognition  of  His  right  to  claim  the 
spoils  of  victory,  that  is  to  say,  by  resurrection  God 
accepts  the  redemptive  method  of  the  Son.  The  Father 
declares  that  by  the  life  laid  down,  a  work  has  been  done 
which  is  sufficient  for  the  salvation  of  men.  Yet  carefully 
mark  the  sequence  of  this  truth.  By  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus,  God  rejects  and  refuses  all  other  methods  of  salva- 
tion. He  declared  in  that  stupendous  act,  not  only  His 
rejection  of  imperfect  man,  but  His  rejection  of  every 
attempt  imperfect  man  may  make,  to  save  or  reinstate 
himself. 

And  yet  when  by  resurrection  God  declared  the  victory 
of  Jesus,  He  announced  the  defeat  of  all  others  in  their 
conflict  with  sin.  Standing  in  the  search-light  of  the  resur- 
rection, man  becomes  more  conscious  of  his  helplessness 
than   when   standing   in   the  shadow  of  the  Cross.     The 


366  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

risen  One  is  Victor,  and  Victor  in  virtue  of  the  perfection 
of  life,  of  the  perfection  of  mediation.  Man  in  his  imper- 
fection of  life,  and  his  inability  to  work  out  a  salvation  of 
his  own  is  declared  to  be  vanquished,  and  unable  himself  to 
become  master  of  the  forces  which  have  wrought  his  ruin. 

It   is  because   the  resurrection  has  not  been  properly  ap- 
preciated as  the  message  of  God,  which  is  the  severest  con- 
demnation  of  sinning   man,  that   men   have  still  imagined    | 
that    apart    from    the    Passion    and    passing    of  Jesus    of 
Nazareth,  it  may  be  possible  for  them  to  be  accepted  of  God. 

Gazing  into  the  darkness  of  the  grave  which  Jesus  has 
left,  man  should  recognize  the  utter  hopelessness  of  his 
condition,  and  the  utter  folly  of  attempting  to  please  God. 
When  the  Eternal  raised  Jesus  from  the  grave,  and  took  Him 
to  Himself,  He  by  that  act  hurled  the  whole  race  to  destruc- 
tion. Think  of  the  resurrection  for  a  single  moment,  not 
merely  with  reference  to  the  truths  now  considered,  but  as  an 
illustration  of  them  in  the  fact  of  history.  No  man  saw  Him 
rise.  The  very  disciples  were  denied  the  vision.  It  may 
be  urged  that  the  weakness  of  their  faith  was  the  reason  of 
their  failure  in  this  respect.  And  yet  in  that  very  fact  is 
evident  the  act  of  God.  As  in  the  Cross  there  was  mani- 
fest the  element  of  lawlessness,  crucifying  the  Son,  and  the 
element  of  Divine  counsel  and  foreknowledge  ;  so  also  in 
the  resurrection  there  is  manifest  man's  failure  in  his 
absence,  and  God's  rejection  of  man,  in  that  he  was  not 
permitted  to  see  the  stupendous  glory  of  the  acceptance  of 
the  perfect  One. 

The  act  of  God  in  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  was  one 
characterized  by  marvellous  majesty,  and  overwhelming 
power.  In  describing  this,  Paul  speaks  in  language  which 
almost  seems  to  be  redundant,  and  yet  is  surely  necessary 
to  give  some  indication  of  the  stupendous  fact.     He  writes; 


The  Divine  Seal  367 

"  That  working  of  the  strength  of  His  might."  ^  The 
might  of  God,  the  strength  of  the  might  of  God,  the  work- 
ing of  the  strength  of  the  might  of  God.  Simply  to  read 
this  is  to  feel  the  irresistible  throb  of  omnipotence.  In  the 
quietness  of  that  first  day  of  the  week,  when  the  first 
shafts  of  light  were  gleaming  on  the  eastern  sky,  the  dis- 
ciples being  absent,  and  the  enemies,  as  represented  by  the 
soldiers,  being  rendered  blind  by  the  glory  of  the  angelic 
splendour,  God  raised  Him. 

Notice  what  this  meant  with  regard  to  the  powers  that 
had  been  against  Him.  The  priests  had  laboured  to  en- 
compass His  death,  and  had  been  successful.  They  had 
done  their  worst,  and  God  lifted  Him  out  of  the  death  to 
which  they  had  condemned  Him,  and  by  this  act  forever 
rejected  them.  The  world  powers  had  united  in  religious 
hatred,  and  cultured  indiff^erence,  and  material  power  to  cast 
Him  out ;  and  God  placed  Him  over  the  whole  of  them, 
crowning  Him  at  the  centre  of  all  authority,  and  by  that  act 
rejected  false  religion,  imperfect  culture,  and  merely  mate- 
rial power.  This  is  no  mere  dream,  though  for  twenty 
centuries  the  priest  has  fought  for  his  position  in  the  world. 
He  has  been  defeated  again  and  again,  and  must  ultimately 
be  defeated,  and  always  in  the  power  of  the  Priesthood  of 
the  risen  Christ. 

So  also  have  false  religions,  the  religions  of  externalities 
striven  for  the  mastery,  only  to  be  superseded  by  the  relig- 
ion of  the  Christ. 

False  culture  has  repeatedly  attempted,  with  self-satisfied 
cynicism,  to  treat  with  indifference  the  Christ  of  God,  only 
to  find  that  He  takes  hold  upon  all  the  domain  of  true  cul- 
ture, and  rules  supremely  over  it. 

And  moreover,  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  in  their  pride 
•  Eph.  I  :  19. 


368  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

have  set  themselves  against  the  Lord  and  His  Anointed, 
only  to  find  that  the  King  of  kings,  and  the  Lord  of  lords 
defeats  their  purpose,  spoils  their  programme,  and  paralyzes 
their  power.  All  the  forces  of  the  world  were  placed  be- 
low Him  in  resurrection.  In  the  act  of  the  crucifixion  of 
the  Christ,  man  turned  his  back  upon  God.  In  the  fact  of 
His  resurrection  God  turned  His  back  upon  man.  The 
risen  Christ  was  the  One  with  Whom  God  entered  into 
covenant,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others. 

The  resurrection  has  no  message  to  men  who  are 
attempting  in  the  energy  of  their  own  will  to  please  God, 
save  that  of  declaring  that  by  the  fact  of  His  pleasure  in 
the  perfect  One,  He  cannot  be  pleased  with  imperfection  in 
any  degree.  The  resurrection  attests  to  every  successive 
age  that  in  God's  acceptance  of  the  way  of  salvation  pro- 
vided by  Christ,  He  forever  refuses  to  lend  a  listening  ear 
to  any  who  shall  attempt  that  which  is  impossible,  the 
working  out  of  a  salvation  in  the  energy  of  a  depraved  and 
degraded  nature. 

III.  And  yet  this  is  but  the  dark  background  to  a  pic- 
ture radiant  with  the  colours  of  hope.  God's  rejection  of 
imperfection  is  the  act  of  Love.  His  refusal  of  all  human 
attempts  at  renewal  and  reconstruction,  is  the  refusal  of  a 
great  compassion.  If  the  acceptance  of  Christ  was  the  re- 
jection of  man,  it  was  also  the  acceptance  of  a  new  and 
living  way,  through  which  rejected  man  might  find  his  way 
back  to  God.  If  in  the  resurrection  God  accepted  the 
perfect  Man,  He  also  accepted  Him  in  that  representative 
capacity,  indicated  by  the  fact  of  His  wounding  and  His 
death.  He  raised  in  Him,  all  those  who  commit  to  Him 
their  whole  life,  in  a  deep  sense  of  its  direst  need,  and  full 
confidence   in    His   power  to   save.      Not  in  loneliness  did 


The  Divine  Seal  369 

He  rise,  but  in  the  possession  of  a  life  to  be  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  others.  On  the  resurrection  side  of  the  grave 
Jesus  stood  as  the  Head  of  the  new  race,  the  second  Man, 
the  last  Adam.  How  often  is  this  wording;  confused  in 
quotation.  Men  speak  of  the  last  Man,  and  the  second 
Adam.  It  may  be  objected  that  this  is  a  matter  of  small 
significance,  and  yet  it  is  not  so.  In  His  perfection  He 
was  the  second  Man.  The  first  man  failed,  the  second 
Man  succeeded.  That  is  the  statement  of  a  lonely  fact. 
The  first  Adam  was  the  head  of  a  race,  and  in  his  failure  the 
race  was  involved.  The  last  Adam  created  the  force  of 
renewal  even  for  the  fallen,  and  became  the  Head  of  the 
new  race,  to  whom  that  new  force  should  be  communi- 
cated. Not  merely  was  He  the  second  Adam,  as  though 
there  might  be  a  third.  He  was  the  last.  Beyond  Him, 
and  all  included  in  the  communication  of  His  life,  there  is 
to  be  no  new  race. 

Thus  the  resurrection  is  seen  to  be  the  Divine  announce- 
ment of  the  evangel.  According  to  the  words  of  Jesus,  on 
the  Cross  He  laid  down  His  life  for  the  sheep,  that  is,  that 
they  might  receive  it  as  their  own.  When  God  raised  Him 
from  the  dead.  He  ratified  that  intention,  and  declared  it  to  be 
an  established  fact.  The  life  laid  down  all  received  in  resur- 
rection, and  all  who  receive  that  life  are  accepted,  received 
by  God.  They  are  accepted  in  the  Beloved.  From  the 
resurrection  morning  until  now,  God  has  been,  and  still  is, 
receiving  Christ ;  and  the  groundwork  of  the  acceptance  of 
any  man  with  God  is  that  there  has  been  communicated  to 
him  the  life  of  Christ.  There  is  no  verdict  upon  fallen 
man  so  final  in  its  declaration  of  his  rejection,  as  is  the 
risen  Christ.  There  is  no  door  of  hope  so  radiant  with 
light  for  the  fallen  people  as  this  way  into  acceptance 
through  the  reception  of  the  Christ. 


370  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Oh  wondrous  Shepherd  of  the  sheep.  The  hirehng 
careth  not  for  the  sheep,  and  fleeth  because  he  is  an  hire- 
hng. The  Shepherd  came  into  conflict  with  the  wolf,  and 
by  His  dying  overcame.  The  scattered  frightened  sheep, 
receiving  the  Ufe  Hberated  through  the  death  of  the  Shep- 
herd, receive  all  the  values  and  the  virtues  which  God 
accepts,  and  thus  in  Christ  are  accepted  of  God. 


XXVII 
FAITH'S  ANCHORAGE 

The  importance  of  the  resurrection  may  be  gathered 
from  the  position  its  proclamation  occupied  in  the  preaching 
of  the  apostles.  It  was  the  first  article  in  the  creed  they 
professed  and  proclaimed.  When  the  apostles  were  sur- 
rounded with  the  high  priests,  and  the  whole  senate,  and 
the  council  of  the  children  of  Israel,  Peter  as  the  spokesman 
of  the  rest,  in  declaring  the  facts  for  which  they  stood,  and 
of  which  they  claimed  to  be  witnesses,  put  the  resurrection 
in  the  forefront,^  and  this  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  he 
knew  it  must  run  counter  to  the  prejudices  of  that  assem- 
bly, seeing  that  the  high  priest  was  himself  a  Sadducee,  and 
therefore  one  who  denied  the  resurrection  of  the  body. 

The  words  of  Paul  in  writing  his  first  letter  to  the  Cor- 
inthians, "  I  determined  not  to  know  anything  among  you, 
save  Jesus  Christ,  and  Him  crucified,"  ^  have  almost  per- 
petually been  used  as  serving  to  define  the  whole  subject  of 
his  preaching.  A  reasonable  and  careful  examination  of 
the  context  will  prove  that  this  is  a  misinterpretation. 
*' Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified"  is  not  the  whole  burden 
of  preaching,  neither  is  it  the  final  nor  central  fact  thereof. 
It  would  be  far  more  correct  to  say  that  the  keynote  of 
apostolic  teaching  was  expressed  by  the  same  apostle  when 
he  wrote,  "  It  is  Christ  Jesus  that  died,  yea,  rather,  that 
was  raised  from  the  dead."'     This  is  not  to  minimize  the 

» Acts  $.  «  I  Cor.  2:2.  »  Rom,  8 :  34. 


372  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

value  of  the  preaching  of  Christ  crucified,  but  if  Christ  cru- 
cified be  all,  then  there  is  no  value  in  preaching  Christ 
crucified.  It  was  His  resurrection  from  among  the  dead 
that  demonstrated  the  infinite  value  of  the  mystery  of  His 
death.  When  the  apostle  declared  to  the  Christians  in 
Corinth  that  he  was  determined  not  to  know  anything 
among  them,  save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified,  the  rea- 
son lay  in  the  fact  of  their  carnality.  All  kinds  of  disorders 
had  crept  into  the  church,  and  the  tone  of  the  life  of  the 
members  was  carnal  and  not  spiritual.  It  was  necessary  to 
hold  their  thinking  in  the  realm  of  the  Cross,  for  they  had 
not  learned  this  first  lesson,  and  could  not  therefore  be  led 
into  the  deeper  and  fuller  truth. 

In  his  letter  to  the  Romans  Paul  distinctly  places  the 
resurrection  before  the  mind  as  the  anchorage  for  faith  unto 
salvation.  "  If  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  Jesus  as 
Lord,  and  shalt  believe  in  thy  heart  that  God  raised  Him 
from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved."  ^  And  writing  in  the 
epistle  to  the  Corinthians  he  makes  a  simple  statement  that 
at  once  reveals  the  true  place  of  the  resurrection  in  preach- 
ing and  in  faith.  "  If  Christ  hath  not  been  raised,  then  is 
our  preaching  vain,  your  faith  also  is  vain.  Yea,  and  we 
are  found  false  witnesses  of  God ;  because  we  witnessed  of 
God  that  He  raised  up  Christ :  Whom  He  raised  not  up, 
if  so  be  that  the  dead  are  not  raised.  For  if  the  dead  are 
not  raised,  neither  hath  Christ  been  raised :  and  if  Christ 
hath  not  been  raised,  your  faith  is  vain ;  ye  are  yet  in 
your  sins."  ' 

While  the  preaching  and  teaching  of  the  apostles  were 

constantly  occupied  with   the  fact  of  the  Cross,  as   to  its 

place  and  value  in  the  economy  of  redemption,  they  never 

failed  to  direct  attention  to  the  resurrection  as  the  central 

»  Rom.  lO:  9.  'I  Cor.  15  :  14-17. 


Faith's  Anchorage  373 

verity,  demonstrating  to  man's  intelligence,  and  communi- 
cating to  his  life,  the  value  of  the  Cross. 

The  resurrection  gave  meaning  to  all  that  had  preceded 
it.  By  it  the  Cross  was  proved  to  be  more  than  a  tragic 
death,  and  the  life  of  Jesus  infinitely  more  than  an  exam- 
ple. Upon  the  fact  of  the  historic  resurrection  stands  or 
falls  the  whole  fabric  of  Christianity.  Unless  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  actually  came  back  from  the  grave,  then  indeed 
have  we  followed  "  cunningly  devised  fables  "  ^  and  have 
been  hopelessly  deceived.  This  has  been  recognized  by 
the  very  enemies  of  Christianity.  It  was  Strauss  who  said 
that  "  the  resurrection  is  the  centre  of  the  centre." 

In  contemplating  the  resurrection  as  the  anchorage  of 
faith,  first  let  the  historic  fact  be  taken  for  granted  and  con- 
sidered as  an  anchorage ;  and  secondly,  let  an  enquiry  be 
instituted  as  to  whether  faith  has  actually  the  anchorage  of 
the  resurrection. 

I.  Let  the  facts  as  recorded  in  the  Gospels  be  accepted 
as  true.  An  appreciation  of  the  value  thereof  will  be  dis- 
covered, by  suggesting  the  questions  arising  in  the  mind  of 
man,  seeking  redemption,  as  he  stands  outside  the  grave  in 
which  Christ  has  been  laid  to  rest ;  and  secondly,  by  notic- 
ing how  such  questions  are  perfectly  answered  as  the  grave 
is  opened,  and  the  Man  of  Nazareth  comes  forth. 

Having  reverently  attempted  to  trace  in  order  the  work 
of  Jesus  in  fulfillment  of  the  mission  of  redemption,  the 
mind  is  now  fixed  upon  His  grave.  Against  the  entrance 
of  that  tomb  a  stone  is  laid.  Upon  that  stone  is  the  seal 
of  the  Roman  governor.  Within  the  tomb  there  lies  the 
dead  body  of  the  Man  of  Nazareth.  The  questions  aris- 
ing, are  questions  of  reverence,  and  yet  are  questions  hon- 
>  2  Pet.  I  :  16. 


374  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

estly  forced  upon  the  mind.  These  are  two,  which  may 
thus  be  simply  stated.  His  life  in  its  perfection  was  ever 
lived  with  the  culminating  fact  of  death  upon  His  conscious- 
ness. This  has  been  seen  in  the  study  of  the  approach  to 
the  Cross.  In  the  process  of  the  death,  the  declared  inten- 
tion has  been  that  of  dealing  with  sin,  and  creating  a  new 
moral  value  to  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  such  as  are  en- 
slaved by  sin.  Has  the  Man  of  Nazareth  succeeded  in 
this  great  work  ? 

Closely  allied  is  the  second  question.  In  looking  for- 
ward to  His  death  this  Man  has  spoken  of  it  as  the  path- 
way to  something  infinitely,  more.  Having  declared  that  He 
had  come  that  men  might  have  life,  He  moreover  claimed 
that  though  He  laid  down  His  life,  He  would  take  it  again, 
in  order  that  it  might  be  communicated  to  those  who 
needed  life.  Is  He  equal  to  this  declared  purpose  ?  With 
great  reverence  the  mind  has  contemplated  the  passing  of 
the  King  into  the  darkened  way  where  lay  the  enemies  of 
the  race,  with  the  avowed  purpose  of  gaining  victory  over 
them,  and  accomplishing  an  exodus.  In  the  death  grapple 
in  the  darkness  has  He  won,  or  have  they  ?  Is  He  merged 
beneath  the  swelling  waters  of  the  unfathomable  sea,  or  are 
they  ?  Standing  before  the  sealed  tomb  of  the  Man  of 
Nazareth,  man  asks  in  the  deep  consciousness  of  his  heart's 
need  and  anguish,  whether  there  has  been  accomplished  in 
the  mystery  of  the  Passion,  that  which  will  issue  in  the 
loosing  of  man  from  his  sin  ?  He  asks  moreover,  whether 
the  infinite  promises  of  individual  life,  which  will  enable 
him  to  overcome  the  things  that  have  overcome  him,  can 
be  fulfilled  ?  A  question  concerning  pardon,  and  a 
question  concerning  power  surge  upon  the  mind  in  the 
presence  of  the  entombed  Jesus. 

The   contemplation  of  His  life  and  death  have  kindled 


Faith's  Anchorage  375 

within  the  heart  a  sense  of  love  towards  Him,  and  even 
though  He  have  failed.  He  must  ever  hold  His  place  for 
what  He  was,  in  the  love  of  those  who  have  beheld  the 
vision.  He  meant  well.  He  strove  towards  redemption,  yea, 
so  mightily,  that  none  other  can  ever  repeat  the  process. 
Has  He  failed,  or  has  He  succeeded  ?  He  is  in  the  grave, 
and  there  is  no  answer  so  long  as  He  abide  there. 

It  would  seem  as  though  the  very  statement  of  these 
questions  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  an  unfolding  of  the  in- 
finite value  of  the  glorious  fact  of  His  resurrection.  How 
precious  it  is  to  stand  in  imagination  in  the  tender  light  of 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  in  the  company  of  the  women 
who  are  first  at  the  tomb,  and  to  listen  to  the  first  uttering 
of  the  evangel  of  hope,  as  sounding  from  the  empty  grave, 
its  music  breaks  upon  the  heart,  "  He  is  not  here ;  for  He 
is  risen,  even  as  He  said.  Come,  see  the  place  where  the 
Lord  lay."  ^  What  tenderness  is  in  the  message,  what 
glad  exultant  joy,  and  yet  what  a  touch  of  quiet  irony. 
And  yet  again,  what  gentle  rebuke.  "  He  is  risen,  even  as 
He  said."  These  women  and  these  apostles  He  had  told 
again  and  yet  again  that  He  would  rise,  and  yet  they  had 
come  bringing  spices  to  anoint  Him  dead.  The  angel  re- 
vealed heaven's  rebuke  in  the  phrase  "  even  as  He  said." 
And  then  what  quiet  majestic  irony.  All  sin  and  all  malice 
had  united  to  put  Him  within  the  silent  tomb.  And  now 
the  angel  quietly  says  *'  Behold  the  place  where  the  Lord 
lay."  The  grave  is  there,  but  it  is  empty.  He  is  not  here, 
for  He  has  risen  superior  to  all  the  forces  that  united  to 
silence  and  entomb  Him.  That  resurrection  is  indeed  the 
centre  of  the  centre,  and  all  the  questions  of  the  seeking 
heart  are  answered,  in  the  radiant  splendour  of  the  light 
that  streams  from  the  vanquished  grave. 
1  Matt.  28 :  6. 


376  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

The  exodus  is  complete,  the  foes  met  in  the  darkness 
are  mastered.  The  waters  have  not  o'erwhelmed  the 
King.  In  their  unfathomable  deeps,  only  the  enemies 
have  perished. 

Almost  with  trembling,  and  yet  reverently  let  this  fact 
be  stated  from  the  other  side.  If  the  mighty  work  at- 
tempted had  failed  of  accomplishment,  the  grave  would 
have  held  Him.  Unless  He  had  vanquished  sin,  there  could 
have  been  no  resurrection.  Unless  He  had  still  retained  in 
the  mystery  of  laying  down  His  life  the  authority  to  take 
it  again,  there  could  have  been  no  impartation  of  these 
values  of  His  death,  and  the  virtues  of  His  life.  His  own 
perfect  confidence  in  victory  was  declared  when  out  of  the 
darkness  of  the  experience  of  the  Cross  He  cried,  "  It  is 
finished."  *  The  absolute  vindication  of  that  cry  is  to  be 
found  in  the  resurrection,  in  which  God  answered  declaring 
also  "  It  is  finished." 

Here  then  indeed  is  faith's  firm  foundation,  its  assured 
anchorage.  By  that  empty  grave  man  knows  that  sin  is  put 
away,  and  the  infinite  value  of  the  Atonement  is  at  his  dis- 
posal. By  that  grave  man  is  assured  of  the  fulfillment  of 
the  promises  made,  and  he  knows  indeed  that  the  life  taken 
again  is  at  his  disposal.  Glad  unutterable  peace  possesses 
all  the  soul,  as  faith  takes  reasonable  action  upon  the  testi- 
mony of  the  resurrection,  and  trusts  without  question  or 
controversy,  the  accomplished  work  of  the  Redeemer. 

II.  The  remaining  section  of  this  chapter  is  that  of  a 
restatement  of  the  arguments  for  the  historic  fact  of  resur- 
rection. Having  considered  how  that  fact,  if  granted,  is 
indeed  the  anchorage  for  faith,  it  now  remains  to  repeat  in 
briefest  form,  the  lines  of  proof.  And  yet  nothing  can  be 
>  John  19  :  30. 


Faith's  Anchorage  377 

of  more  importance.  It  is  utterly  false  to  declare  that  it  is 
unimportant,  whether  the  Man  of  Nazareth  did  actually 
rise  from  the  dead.  It  is  unfair,  and  illogical,  and  outside 
the  final  possibility  of  reason's  acceptance,  to  affirm  that  the 
value  of  the  resurrection  remains  if  its  fact  be  denied.  The 
idea  that  the  matter  of  supreme  importance  is  value,  apart 
from  fact  is  absurd,  because  it  is  presupposing  an  impos- 
sibility. The  value  has  been  created  by  the  fact.  Had 
there  been  no  fact,  there  could  have  been  no  value.  Per- 
manent values  can  only  exist  upon  the  bases  of  established 
facts.  A  value  of  perpetual  force  has  never  been  created 
upon  the  basis  of  a  so-called  working  hypothesis.  Sooner 
or  later  the  hypothesis  will  almost  invariably  cease  to  work, 
and  when  that  happens,  the  value  passes  like  the  mirage  of 
the  desert.  If  the  hypothesis  is  to  continue,  it  will  be  be- 
cause it  is  finally  demonstrated  as  being  based  upon  fact. 

The  permanent  value  therefore  is  the  outcome  of  estab- 
lished fact.  All  the  working  values  of  the  Gospel  of  grace 
are  founded  upon  the  fact  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus. 

To  follow  this  statement  further.  It  is  declared  that  the 
value  is  here,  and  we  need  take  no  time  in  arguing  concern- 
ing the  fact.  That  may  be  abandoned  seeing  that  the  value 
is  now  at  the  use  of  men.  This  again  is  evidence  of  short- 
sightedness. Abandon  the  fact,  and  the  value  will  be  lost. 
This  may  not  be  seen  immediately,  but  in  the  process  of 
years  it  will  be  seen.  When  the  great  rock  foundations  of 
our  faith  are  reckoned  of  no  account,  the  values  that  have 
accrued  may  seem  to  abide,  but  they  will  inevitably  even  if 
slowly,  lose  their  transforming  power. 

The  fact  of  the  resurrection  has  created  the  value  of  high 
life.  Once  deny  the  fact,  and  its  value  will  cease  to  grip, 
and  regulate  the  consciences  of  men,  and  they  will  revert, 
sooner  or   later,  to   the   bestial   materialistic   ideal   of  life, 


378  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

which  issues  in  such  rottenness  as  that  of  Rome,  and  of 
Greece.  To  trifle  with  the  foundations  of  God  is  to  render 
the  building  insecure.  The  actuality  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  Man  Jesus,  is  necessary  to  the  permanent  value  of  the 
Christian  Gospel. 

It  is  therefore  absolutely  necessary  that  the  question  be 
asked,  did  He  rise  ?  Take  the  apostolic  formula  of  suppo- 
sition. "  If  Christ  be  not  risen,"  there  are  certain  inevit- 
able deductions  will  follow. 

First,  His  teaching  was  false  for  He  distinctly  declared 
that  He  would  rise  again,  and  so  faith's  central  claim 
was  never  realized,  and  all  other  claims  are  valueless. 
His  one  final  sign  was  that  of  His  own  resurrection. 
"  What  sign  showest  Thou  unto  us,  seeing  that  Thou 
doest  these  things."  "  Destroy  this  temple,  and  in  three 
days  I  will  raise  it  up."  '  "  We  would  see  a  sign  from 
Thee."  ''As  Jonah  was  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the 
belly  of  the  whale ;  so  shall  the  Son  of  Man  be  three  days 
and  three  nights  in  the  heart  of  the  earth."  ^  When  He 
said  these  things,  men  did  not  understand  them.  But  look- 
ing back  at  them,  it  is  perfectly  patent  that  to  the  mind  of 
the  Master,  the  resurrection  was  the  one  indisputable  seal 
of  the  Divinity  of  His  mission.  Yet  again  earnestly  and 
solemnly  it  must  be  declared  that  if  He  did  not  rise,  either 
He  was  Himself  deceived,  or  He  was  intentionally  a 
deceiver. 

"  If  Christ  be  not  risen,"  then  to  adopt  the  first  supposi- 
tion. He  was  mistaken,  for  He  thought  He  would  ;  or  else, 
to  adopt  the  second,  if  He  never  expected  to  rise,  He  de- 
liberately attempted  to  deceive  men,  by  promising  them 
that  He  would. 

And  yet  again,  if  He  did  not  rise.  His  work  was  the 
>  John  2:  18,  19.  "  Matt.  12:  38,40. 


Faith's  Anchorage  379 

direst  failure.  At  the  erection  of  the  Cross,  there  was  in- 
deed to  all  human  seeming,  a  final  failure  for  Him.  His 
own  were  against  Him,  His  disciples  abandoned  Him,  and 
they  are  seen  scattering  as  fast  as  they  knew  how  to  fishing 
nets.  They  had  had  a  dream  of  exquisite  beauty  in  the 
days  of  their  discipleship,  but  the  whole  thing  had  melted 
like  the  mirage  of  the  desert.  To  affirm  this  in  the  face  of 
the  stupendous  victories  of  Christ  during  nineteen  centuries 
is  an  absolute  absurdity.  If  He  did  not  rise,  then  the 
victories  were  not  gained  by  Him,  but  by  the  men  who 
were  His  followers,  who  reconstructed  an  idea  out  of  a 
dismal  failure,  and  made  it  the  dominating  and  all-victorious 
force  that  it  has  been  in  human  history. 

And  yet  this  cannot  be,  for  they  abandoned  hope  of  the 
Christ,  and  scattered.  There  must  have  been  something 
which  regathered  them,  and  reunited  them.  Not  the 
Cross,  but  something  other,  for  the  Cross  broke  up  the 
unity,  and  scattered  the  units.  Not  one  of  them  waited  to 
watch.  They  are  seen  drifting  away,  with  the  sadness 
of  a  great  love  for  a  lost  Leader  in  their  hearts,  feeling  that 
while  He  was  true  indeed  to  them.  He  was  utterly  mis- 
taken, and  that  the  only  logical  sequence  of  the  Cross  is 
that  they  shall  go  back  to  their  fishing. 

But  to  take  the  larger  outlook.  "  If  Christ  be  not 
risen,"  then  the  atoning  value  of  His  death  cannot  be  main- 
tained, and  it  is  worthy  of  careful  notice  that  the  doctrine 
of  Atonement  always  goes,  where  men  call  in  question  the 
fact  of  the  resurrection. 

And  yet  again.  "  If  Christ  be  not  risen,"  then  the 
world  has  no  authoritative  message  concerning  the  life 
hereafter.  If  indeed  He  did  not  return,  then  has  man  no 
well-established  hope  of  seeing  again  those  faces  loved  long 
since  and  lost  awhile.     A  man  often  says — thoughtlessly  in 


380  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

all  probability — that  no  one  has  ever  come  back  to  tell  us 
anything  concerning  the  life  beyond.  That  statement  is 
absolutely  correct  if  Christ  be  not  risen.  No  one,  however, 
whose  faith  is  fastened  upon  the  resurrection  can  make 
that  assertion.  One  has  come  back,  and  in  His  coming 
has  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light. 

If  Christ  be  not  risen  then  there  is  no  type  of  humanity, 
for  all  the  perfections,  which  seem  to  be  resident  in  Him, 
are  spoiled  by  the  revelation  of  His  ignorance,  or  His 
attempt  to  impose  upon  the  credulity  of  man. 

"  If  Christ  be  not  risen  "  there  is  no  new  power  at  the 
disposal  of  man,  and  he  is  left  alone  to  struggle,  and  al- 
together unavailingly,  with  the  forces  of  evil. 

If  Christ  did  not  rise,  what  then  did  happen  ?  What 
was  it  that  recalled  that  scattered  group  of  frightened 
souls,  and  turned  them  into  men  and  women  of  such 
marvellous  force,  that  within  one  brief  generation  they  had 
filled  Jerusalem  with  their  doctrine,  spoken  to  the  known 
world,  and  undermined  the  corrupt  Roman  empire  ?  How 
are  these  facts  to  be  accounted  for  ?  It  may  at  once  be  de- 
clared that  every  attempt  to  account  for  the  victories  of  the 
Church  apart  from  the  resurrection  is  philosophically  ab- 
surd, and  historically  without  proof. 

It  has  been  affirmed  that  the  early  disciples  were  guilty 
of  fraud,  that  they  invented  a  story.  Will  this  stand  the 
test  of  one  moment's  consideration  of  the  fact  that  for  this 
particular  story  they  endured  almost  untold  suffering,  being 
excommunicated,  ostracized,  and  in  thousands  of  cases  put 
to  death  ?  It  may  be  that  in  the  history  of  the  race,  indi- 
vidual men  have  been  found,  who,  swept  by  some  fanaticism, 
have  been  willing  to  die  for  fraud.  Cases  have  not  been 
wanting  in  which  men  have  suffered  and  perished,  in  order 
that  evil   may  reach  the  goal,  and  something  dastardly  be 


Faith's  Anchorage  381 

accomplished.  But  this  is  not  a  case  of  isolated  individuals, 
but  a  whole  company  and  society  of  men  and  women  and 
children,  ever  increasing  in  number,  all  of  them  more  or 
less  having  to  suffer  in  those  early  centuries ;  and  the 
central  fact,  for  the  declaration  of  which  they  endured  all 
things,  was  this  story  of  the  resurrection,  which,  forsooth, 
it  is  announced  they  invented.  Let  the  apostles  be  the 
first  and  most  conspicuous  illustration.  All  of  them  save 
one  died  violent  deaths,  and  he  was  exiled  to  a  lonely 
island. 

The  breaking  out  of  persecution  as  chronicled  In  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  was  based  upon  the  fact  that  these  men 
declared  that  the  Man  Who  had  been  crucified  to  put  an 
end  to  His  teaching  and  influence,  had  been  raised,  and  was 
alive.  It  is  not  within  the  compass  of  rational  considera- 
tion to  believe  that  men  who  so  suffered,  suffered  for  a 
story  themselves  had  invented. 

Again  it  has  been  said  that  Jesus  never  really  died,  but 
that  He  swooned  upon  the  Cross,  and  that  being  placed  in 
a  grave  He  recovered.  How  then  it  may  be  asked,  did  He 
escape  from  the  tomb  so  carefully  guarded  by  Roman 
soldiers,  and  from  grave-clothes  so  marvellously  wrapped, 
as  those  of  Eastern  burials  were  ?  Of  course  such  a  state- 
ment is  to  take  away  not  only  resurrection,  but  the  death 
of  the  Cross,  and  all  the  value  connected  with  it. 

And  yet  His  death  is  proven  by  the  fact  that  it  was 
carried  out  by  Roman  authority,  and  Roman  soldiers,  and 
is  a  matter  of  the  world's  history,  as  apart  from  the  story 
of  the  Gospels.  In  the  crucifixion  of  malefactors  the 
Romans  were  ever  careful  to  be  certain  of  death,  and  for 
this  purpose  broke  the  bones  after  a  lapse  of  certain  time. 
His  bones  were  not  broken  for  the  simple  reason  that  He 
was  dead  already.     Before  His  body  was  granted  to  Joseph 


qSl  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 


kJ 


of  Arimathea,  the  Roman  governor  made  careful  enquiry 
concerning  the  actuality  of  death. 

And  yet  one  other  argument  may  be  referred  to.  It  is 
asserted  that  the  disciples  saw  certain  visionary  appear- 
ances after  the  crucifixion,  and  that  they  thought  they  saw 
Him.  Under  stress  and  strain  of  terrible  excitement  they 
imagined  they  had  a  vision  of  their  lost  Leader  again  alive. 
The  statement  has  been  made  in  this  connection  that  they 
saw  what  they  wanted  to  see,  as  people  overwrought  often 
seem  to  do.  The  answer  to  such  a  statement  is  of  the 
simplest.  There  need  be  no  argument.  They  had  no 
expectation  of  seeing  Him  again.  No  thought  was  further 
from  their  minds  than  that  of  His  resurrection.  As  to  the 
hypothesis  of  visionary  appearances,  it  might  have  been 
considered  if  but  one  or  two  had  testified.  No  less  than 
ten  distinct  appearances  are  recorded,  and  these  not  only  to 
individuals,  but  to  companies  and  crowds.  First  to  the 
women.  Then  to  Peter.  Then  to  two  men  walking  to 
Emmaus.  Then  to  ten  apostles,  and  subsequently  to 
eleven.  Yet  later  to  seven  men  approaching  the  seashore. 
Yet  again  to  the  whole  number  of  the  apostles,  and  after- 
wards to  five  hundred  brethren  at  once.  Then  to  James, 
and  finally  to  the  little  group  gathered  round  Him  when 
He  ascended. 

Is  it  conceivable  that  all  these  were  deceived  by  vision- 
ary appearances,  and  were  so  deceived  that  whatever  else 
their  faults  and  failure  in  the  coming  years,  there  is  abso- 
lutely no  record  of  any  one  of  them  questioning  the  his- 
toric fact  of  the  resurrection  ?  Of  course  it  may  now  be 
said  that  this  is  all  upon  the  authority  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. That  is  at  once  admitted.  The  authenticity  of  the 
Gospel  narratives  is  not  now  under  discussion,  but  is  taken 
for   granted.     And  therefore  there   may  be  added  to  the 


Faith's  Anchorage  383 

proofs  already  cited,  the  wonderful  history  of  Saul  of 
Tarsus,  who  declared  through  over  thirty  years  of  con- 
sistent Christian  life  and  testimony,  that  the  miraculous 
change  wrought  in  his  attitude  towards  Christ,  and  in  the 
whole  fibre  of  his  character,  was  brought  about  by  an  actual 
vision  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  risen  and  glorified.  It  has 
been  said  that  the  true  account  of  what  happened  to  Saul 
of  Tarsus  was  that  he  had  an  epileptic  seizure  in  a 
thunder-storm.  So  puerile  is  such  a  statement,  that  the 
only  answer  possible  to  it,  is  a  suggestion  that  if  it  be  in- 
deed true,  then  men  ought  always  to  pray  for  a  multiplica- 
tion of  thunder-storms,  and  an  epidemic  of  epilepsy. 

And  yet  finally  these  outside  proofs  are  not  the  supreme 
one.  The  supreme  proof  is  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ. 
As  has  incidentally  been  seen,  at  the  Cross  the  disciples  were 
frightened,  and  scattered.  By  the  way  of  resurrection 
these  were  gathered,  and  held  in  patient  waiting,  until  the 
outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  Whose  coming  created  the 
new  society,  which  consisted  not  merely  in  the  gathering 
together  of  individuals,  but  their  fusing  into  one  mystic 
unity.  Then  followed  the  growth  and  influence  of  that 
Church  in  every  successive  century.  Within  its  border 
to-day  there  is  the  deposit  of  the  only  regenerative  Gospel 
that  man  has  ever  heard.  The  resurrection  of  Christ  is 
proven  to-day  by  the  Church  on  earth,  with  its  ordinances, 
its  living  ministry,  its  Gospel  of  grace,  and  the  marvellous 
victories  won  in  every  age,  and  in  every  land  by  its 
toil,  in  spite  of  its  weakness  and  its  worldliness.  The 
Church  of  Christ  is  the  supreme  credential  of  Christ. 

Turning  from  this  subject  of  resurrection  with  the  great 
glad  exultant  cry,  Christ  is  risen,  there  is  in  the  cry  the 
affirmation  of  His  perfect  victory,  the  declaration  of  the 
Divine  seal  set  upon  that  victory,  and  the  proclamation  of 


384  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

a  sure  anchorage  for  the  faith  of  men.  The  living  risen 
Christ  is  the  Centre  of  the  Church's  creed,  the  Creator  of 
her  character,  and  the  Inspiration  of  her  conduct.  His 
resurrection  is  the  clearest  note  in  her  battle-song.  It  is 
the  sweetest,  strongest  music  amid  all  her  sorrows.  It 
speaks  of  personal  salvation.  It  promises  the  life  that  has 
no  ending,  it  declares  to  all  bereaved  souls  that  "  them  also 
that  are  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with  Him,"  ^ 
and  therefore  the  light  of  His  resurrection  falls  in  radiant 
beauty  upon  the  graves  where  rest  the  dust  of  the  holy 
dead. 

*  I  Thess.  4 :  14. 


BOOK   VII 

THE  ASCENSION 


XXVIII.  God's  Perfect  Man 
XXIX.  Man's  Wounded  God 
XXX.  The  New  Union 


Over  against  His  Dead 

God  sat  in  silence :  for  the  Earth  was  dead. 

And  dimly  lay  upon  her  awful  hier^ 

Wrapped  round  in  darkness ;  yea^  her  shroud  was  wrought 

Of  clouds  and  thunders  :  for  the  Earth  had  died 

Not  gently  and  at  peace^  as  tired  men  die 

Toward  the  evening ;  but  as  one  who  dies 

Full  of  great  strength^  by  sudden  smiting  down. 

The  Earth  was  dead^  and  laid  upon  her  bier^ 

And  God,  Sole  Mourner^  watched  her  day  and  night  — 

The  living  God  a  Watcher  by  the  dead,, 

Sole  Mourner  in  the  Universe  for  her 

Who  had  been  once  so  fair. 

****** 

Sole  Mourner^  for  in  the  dark  outer  Room 
The  devils  danced  and  sang  for  dreary  joy  .^ 
Because  God's  so  beloved  Earth  luas  dead. 
And  must  be  shortly  buried  out  of  sight 
To  perish. 

Stilly — over  against  His  Dead 
God  sat  in  silence. 

But^  behold^  there  came 
One^  treading  softly  to  the  House  of  Death, 
Down  from  among  the  Angels.,  through  the  room. 
He  came.,  as  comes  a  King,  unto  the  place 
Where  lay  the  Dead ;  and  He  laid  His  right  hand 
Of  strength  on  her,  and  called  her  tenderly 
Saying,  '  Arise,  beloved,  from  thy  sleep. 
For  I  will  ransom  thee  by  Death  to  Life ; 
Arise  and  live.'      And  He  did  raise  her  up 
By  His  right  hand,  presenting  her  to  God, 
All  glorious,  as  one  who  hath  been  dead 
But  hath  found  life  and  immortality. 
And  God,  the  Mighty  God,  did  there  rejoice. 
And  rest  in  His  great  love ;  for  this  His  Earth, 
Which  had  been  dead,  was  living  in  His  sight. 
Therefore  He  crowned  with  many  croivns  His  head 
Who  had  prevailed  to  ransom  her  from  Death  i 
And  also,  laying  joy  upon  her  head 
For  everlasting.  He  hath  made  her  Bride 
Of  Christ,  the  King.''—B.  M. 

"  From  Death  to  Life." 


So  then  the  Lord  Jesus,  after  He  had  spoken  unto  them,  was 
received  up  into  heaven,  and  sat  down  at  the  right  hand  of  God. 
— Mark  1 6  :  ig. 

And  He  led  them  out  until  they  were  over  against  Bethany : 
and  He  lifted  up  His  hands,  and  blessed  them.  And  it  came  to 
pass,  while  He  blessed  them.  He  parted  from  them,  and  was 
carried  up  into  heaven Luke  24  :  ^o,  ^i. 

And  when  He  had  said  these  things,  as  they  were  looking,  He 
was  taken  up  ;  and  a  cloud  received  Him  out  of  their  sight.  And 
while  they  were  looking  steadfastly  into  heaven  as  He  went,  behold 
two  men  stood  by  them  in  white  apparel ;  who  also  said.  Ye  men 
of  Galilee,  why  stand  ye  looking  into  heaven  ?  This  Jesus,  Who 
was  received  up  from  you  into  heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like 
manner  as  ye  beheld  Him  going  into  heaven. — Acts  i :  g-ii. 

And  I  saw  in  the  right  hand  of  Him  that  sat  on  the  throne  a 
book  written  within  and  on  the  back,  close  sealed  with  seven  seals. 
And  I  saw  a  strong  angel  proclaiming  with  a  great  voice.  Who  is 
worthy  to  open  the  book,  and  to  loose  the  seals  thereof?  And  no 
one  in  the  heaven,  or  on  the  earth,  or  under  the  earth,  was  able  to 
open  the  book,  or  to  look  thereon.  And  I  wept  much,  because 
no  one  was  found  worthy  to  open  the  book,  or  to  look  thereon  : 
and  one  of  the  elders  saith  unto  me.  Weep  not ;  behold,  the  Lion 
that  is  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  the  Root  of  David,  hath  overcome  to 
open  the  book  and  the  seven  seals  thereof.  And  I  saw  in  the 
midst  of  the  throne  and  of  the  four  living  creatures,  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  elders,  a  Lamb  standing,  as  though  it  had  been  slain, 
having  seven  horns,  and  seven  eyes,  which  are  the  seven  Spirits 
of  God,  sent  forth  into  all  the  earth.  And  He  came,  and  He 
taketh  it  out  of  the  right  hand  of  Him  that  sat  on  the  throne.  And 
when  He  had  taken  the  book,  the  four  living  creatures  and  the  four 
and  twenty  elders  fell  down  before  the  Lamb,  having  each  one  a 
harp,  and  golden  bowls  full  of  incense,  which  are  the  prayers  of 
the  saints.      And  they  sing  a  new  song,  saying. 

Worthy  art  Thou  to  take  the  book,  and  to  open 
the  seals  thereof:  for  Thou  wast  slain,  and  didst 
purchase  unto  God  with  Thy  blood  men  of  every 
tribe,  and  tongue,  and  people,  and  nation,  and 
madest  them  to  be  unto  our  God  a  kingdom  and 
priests  ;  and  they  reign  upon  the  earth. 

— Rev.  J  .•  l-io* 
3^1 


XXVIII 
GOD'S  PERFECT  MAN 

The  ascension  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  the  final  crisis 
in  His  great  work.  To  omit  it  would  be  to  omit  that 
which  is  a  necessary  link  between  His  resurrection  from 
among  the  dead,  and  reappearance  amid  His  disciples ;  and 
the  coming  of  God  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost. It  is  not  easy  to  follow  Him  as  He  passes  out  of 
human  sight.  This  difficulty  is  recognized  inferentially  in 
the  very  brevity  of  the  Gospel  narrative.  Very  little  is 
said  because  little  can  be  said  which  could  be  understood  by 
those  dwelling  still  within  the  limitations  of  the  material, 
and  having  consciousness  of  the  spiritual  world  only  by 
faith.  Still  the  positive  fact  is  definitely  stated,  and  follow- 
ing closely  the  lines  laid  down,  we  may  reverently  attempt 
their  projection  beyond  the  veil  of  time  and  sense. 

It  is  almost  pathetic  that  it  is  necessary  to  pause  one  mo- 
ment to  insist  upon  the  actual  historic  fact  of  the  ascension 
into  the  heavenly  places  of  the  Man  of  Nazareth.  If  the 
resurrection  be  denied,  then  of  course  there  is  no  room  for 
ascension.  If  on  the  other  hand  it  be  established,  that 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  did  indeed  rise  from  the  dead,  then  it  is 
equally  certain  that  He  ascended  into  heaven.  No  time 
need  be  taken  in  argument  with  such  as  believe  in  the  au- 
thenticity of  the  New  Testament  story,  and  with  those 
who  question  this,  argument  is  useless.  That  there  is  an 
unconscious  questioning  of  this  fact  of  ascension  is  evident 
from  the  way  in  which  reference  is  sometimes  made  to  the 

389 


390  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Lord  Jesus.  It  is  by  no  means  uncommon  to  hear  persons 
speak  of  what  He  did  or  said  "  in  the  days  of  His  Incar- 
nation." Such  a  phrase,  even  when  not  used  with  such  in- 
tention, does  infer  that  the  days  of  His  Incarnation  are 
over.  This  however  is  not  so,  any  more  than  it  is  true 
that  Abraham,  Moses,  and  Elijah  have  ceased  to  be  men. 
Indeed  the  presence  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  in  heaven  as  a 
Man,  is  more  complete  than  that  of  any  other  save  Enoch, 
Moses,  and  Elijah.  All  others  wait  the  resurrection  for 
the  reception  of  their  body.  He  in  bodily  form  has  passed 
into  heaven.  So  also  Enoch  passed,  as  a  sign  in  the  dim 
and  distant  century  of  the  triumph  over  death  that  God 
would  win  in  the  Person  of  His  Incarnate  Son.  Thus 
also  Elijah  passed,  for  a  testimony  in  the  midst  of  corrup- 
tion, which  was  issuing  in  unbelief  in  immortality.  Moses' 
body  was  brought  out  of  the  grave  by  Michael  the  arch- 
angel, for  reunion  with  his  spirit  for  the  purpose  of  com- 
munion with  the  Man  Jesus.  This  again  was  an  act  of 
God's  faith  in  Christ,  and  though  the  devil  disputed  with 
the  archangel  his  right  to  appropriate  the  benefits  of  re- 
demption, until  redemption  were  accomplished,  by  this  very 
act  God  declared  the  absolute  accomplishment  of  redemp- 
tion in  the  Divine  economy,  long  before  it  had  been 
wrought  out  into  human  history.  Jesus  therefore  through 
Whom,  and  through  Whom  alone  eventually,  men  as  such 
will  be  found  in  the  heavens,  ascended  in  bodily  form  to 
those  heavens,  being  Himself  as  to  actual  victory  First-born 
from  the  dead. 

The  stoop  of  God  to  human  form  was  not  for  a  period 
merely.  That  humiliation  was  a  process  in  the  pathway, 
by  which  God  would  lift  into  eternal  union  with  Himself 
all  such  as  should  be  redeemed  by  the  victory  won  through 
sufFering.     Forevermore    in    the    Person   of  the    Man    of 


God's  Perfect  Man  391 

Nazareth,  God  is  one  with  men.  At  this  moment  the  Man 
of  Nazareth,  the  Son  of  God,  is  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
Father.  Difficulties  arising  concerning  these  clear  declara- 
tions as  to  the  ascension  of  the  Man  of  Nazareth  must  not 
be  allowed  to  create  disbelief  in  them.  Any  such  process 
of  discrediting  what  is  hard  to  understand,  issues  finally  in 
the  abandonment  of  the  whole  Christian  position  and  his- 
tory. It  may  be  objected  for  instance  that  if  He  be  indeed 
localized  as  a  Man,  in  heaven,  how  can  He  be  present  with 
His  people  on  earth.  In  answer  to  that,  it  must  be  stated, 
that  working  in  the  inverse  way,  the  same  difficulty  obtains 
in  understanding  His  presence  on  the  earth  as  a  Man.  In 
the  very  mystery  of  the  Being  of  the  God-man,  as  has  been 
shown,  there  is  the  limitless  and  the  limited,  the  omnipres- 
ent and  the  localized.  Just  as  He  was  here  upon  the  earth 
in  order  that  the  grace  of  God  might  have  its  outshining  in 
a  Person,  and  yet  while  here,  spoke  of  Himself  as  the 
"  Son,  Who  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father  " ;  ^  so  to-day 
the  Man  Christ  Jesus  is  in  heaven,  and  through  Him  the 
glory  of  God  is  having  its  outshining  in  a  Person,  while  He 
is  yet  in  the  deep  and  unfathomable  reaches  of  His  Being, 
the  infinite  and  eternal  I  am. 

In  considering  the  ascension  first  as  the  coming  into 
heaven  of  God's  perfect  Man,  there  are  three  things  to  be 
noted, — first,  His  perfection  in  the  realization  of  the  Di- 
vine purpose  for  man  ;  second.  His  perfection  in  the  ac- 
complishment of  the  Divine  purpose  of  the  redemption  of 
ruined  man ;  third.  His  investiture  with  a  name. 

I.     The  coming  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  into  heaven  was 
the  arrival  of  such  an  One  as  had  never  before  been  there. 
The  coming  to  heaven  of  Abel  was  the  coming  of  the  first 
'  John  I  :   18. 


392  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

human  being,  and  so  far  as  it  is  competent  to  measure  the 
interest  of  heaven  by  earthly  interest  in  the  things  of  God, 
it  may  be  reverently  declared  that  it  was  a  great  occasion 
vi^hen  this  first  soul  representing  a  new  race,  and,  more 
marvellous  still,  representing  a  fallen  race,  appeared  in  the 
unsullied  light  of  the  home  of  the  unfallen.  He  came  by 
faith,  ransomed  by  love,  at  the  cost  of  sacrifice.  As  the 
Scripture  declares  that  "  the  angels  desire  to  look  into  "  ^ 
these  things,  this  must  indeed  have  been  a  mystery  of  life 
and  love  demanding  their  close  attention,  and  not  per- 
chance, even  fathomed  by  them,  until  the  explanation  of 
the  mystery  of  sacrifice  enfolded  in  the  sublimer  mystery 
of  love,  was  wrought  out  upon  the  Cross  of  Calvary.  It 
is  more  than  probable  that  Abel,  and  all  who  succeeded 
him,  had  to  wait  the  fullness  of  the  earthly  time  for  the  ex- 
planation of  the  method  of  their  acceptance  with  God. 
They  passed  into  the  dwelling-place  of  Infinite  Love,  upon 
the  basis  of  their  faith  in  God,  so  far  as  they  were  con- 
cerned. In  the  Divine  economy  they  were  received  upon 
the  basis  of  God's  faith  in  His  Son.  The  Father  trusted 
the  Son  to  accomplish  His  purpose  in  the  fullness  of  time, 
and  upon  the  foundation  of  that  confidence  of  God  in 
Himself,  the  sinner  was  admitted  to  heaven. 

On  ascension  day  something  still  more  marvellous  oc- 
curred. The  Man  of  Nazareth,  the  First  of  the  new  race, 
the  last  Adam,  passed  into  the  Divine  presence  in  the  right 
of  His  own  perfect  humanity.  In  His  coming.  He  asked 
for  no  mercy.  No  mediator  opened  the  door  of  heaven  for 
Him.  He  proceeded  along  the  line  of  the  outworking  of 
the  infinite  order  to  consummation,  basing  His  claim  to 
reception  upon  the  even  and  inexorable  justice  of  God. 
He  passed  from  earth  to  heaven,  and  stood  unafraid  in  the 
1  I  Pet.  1 :  12. 


God's  Perfect  Man  393 

white  light  of  the  Eternal  Purity.  In  all  the  record  of  the 
race  there  has  been  no  other  like  unto  this  Jesus  of 
Nazareth. 

The  greatest  of  Old  Testament  characters  are  seen  over- 
shadowed by  their  own  sin  and  failure,  and  the  men  of  the 
New  have  no  claim  or  merit,  save  that  -which  is  imputed  to 
them,  and  outwrought  through  them,  by  the  Spirit  as  He 
reveals  to  their  understanding,  and  realizes  in  their  charac- 
ter, the  perfections  of  the  Christ.  Jesus  stands  in  heaven, 
having  perfectly  realized  the  original  thought  of  God  which 
found  expression  in  the  first  covenant  of  creation,  "  Let  Us 
make  man  in  our  Image,  after  Our  likeness."  ^  Both  in 
character  and  in  conduct  do  men  learn  the  meaning  of  that 
Divine  thought  as  they  know  the  Man  of  Nazareth. 

Perhaps  the  sublimest  description  of  perfect  character  is 
that  which  Paul  uses  in  writing  to  Timothy,  when  he  says 
"  God  gave  us  ...  a  spirit  ...  of  power  and 
love  and  discipline."  ^  This  exactly  describes  the  char- 
acter of  Christ ; — the  spirit  of  power,  the  spirit  of  love,  the 
spirit  of  discipline.  It  should  be  noted  here  that  discipline 
does  not  signify  self-control,  so  much  as  power  of  ruling 
others.  It  is  the  spirit  of  order,  of  authority.  This  indeed 
is  perfection  of  character.  Out  of  this  sprung  His  per- 
fection of  conduct.  The  whole  conduct  of  His  life  was 
the  outward  expression  of  this  perfect  character  whether  at 
the  feast,  or  the  funeral ;  whether  with  the  scholars,  or  the 
simple ;  whether  with  the  adults,  or  the  children ;  whether 
in  loneliness  on  the  mountain  height,  or  amid  the  crowds 
that  surged  around  Him,  He  was  ever  acting  in  response 
to  the  impulse  of  the  spirit  of  power,  the  spirit  of  love,  and 
the  spirit  of  discipline.  At  last  this  Man  Whose  creed  was 
truth,  Whose  character  was  true,  and  Whose  conduct  was 
1  Gen,  I  :  26.  »  2  Tim.  i :  7. 


394  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

triumphant,  was  received  into  heaven  upon  the  basis  of  His 
own  absolute  perfection. 

II.  Yet  that  is  not  the  greatest  wonder  of  ascension 
day.  It  would  seem  as  though  one  could  hear  the  antiph- 
onal  singing  of  the-  heavenly  choirs,  as  this  perfect  One 
passes  into  heaven, 

"  Lift  up  your  heads,  O  ye  gates ; 
And  be  ye  lifted  up,  ye  everlasting  doors : 
And  the  King  of  glory  will  come  in,"  ' 

is  the  exulting  challenge  of  the  angels  escorting  Him.  To 
this  comes  back  the  question,  inspired  by  the  passion  to 
hear  declared  again  the  story  of  the  victory, 

«« Who  is  the  King  of  glory  ?  " 

And  yet  gathering  new  music  and  new  meaning  the  surg- 
ing anthem  rolls, 

"  Jehovah  strong  and  mighty, 
Jehovah  mighty  in  battle.     .     .     . 
He  is  the  King  of  glory."  * 

Thus  the  song  is  also  of  One  who  was  mighty  in  battle. 
Looking  upon  Him  the  glorified  One,  and  listening  to  His 
words,  the  wonder  grows.  In  that  form  all  filled  with  ex- 
quisite beauty  are  yet  the  signs  of  suffering  and  of  pain. 
The  marks  of  wounding  are  in  hands,  and  feet,  and  side, 
and  His  presence  declares  in  His  own  words,  "  I  am 
.  .  the  Living  One ;  and  I  was  dead,  and  behold,  I 
am  alive  forevermore."  ^ 

This  is  indeed  a  mystery  demanding  explanation.  In 
the  life  of  the  Perfect,  there  is  no  reason  for  death.     Death 

»  Psa.  24  :  7.  2  Psa.  24 :  8,  10.  3  Rev.  i  :  17,  18. 


God's  Perfect  Man  39^ 

is  the  wage  of  sin,  and  apart  from  sin  there  is  no  place  for 
death.  Sometimes  men  declare  that  death  is  a  necessity,  a 
part  of  a  process.  This  may  be  declared,  but  cannot  be 
demonstrated.  The  mystery  of  life  has  eluded  all  scientific 
examination,  and  therefore  so  also  has  the  mystery  of 
death.  The  reason  for  death  in  ordinary  human  life  has 
never  yet  been  declared.  The  human  frame,  according  to 
scientific  testimony,  reconstructs  itself  once  in  every  seven 
years.  Why  may  not  this  process  go  on  indefinitely  ? 
Why  is  there  any  necessity  for  death  ?  The  scientists  are 
unable  to  answer  the  question.  They  can  do  no  more  than 
declare  what  seems  to  be  a  necessity  from  the  perpetual 
recurrence  of  the  experience  in  the  human  race. 

What  science  has  failed  to  do,  revelation  has  clearly 
done.  It  simply  and  sublimely  states  that  death  is  penalty 
for  sin.  Such  is  the  meaning  of  the  story  of  Genesis,  and 
such  the  meaning  of  the  explicit  declaration  of  the  apostle. 
"  Through  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death 
through  sin  ;  and  so  death  passed  unto  all  men,  for  that  all 
sinned."  ^  If  then  pain  be  the  issue  of  sin,  and  death  its 
penalty,  why  has  the  Perfect  suffered  and  died  ?  As  was 
seen  in  the  consideration  of  the  transfiguration  of  Jesus  on 
the  Holy  mount.  His  human  nature,  having  passed  through 
all  temptation  victoriously,  was  metamorphosed,  and  might 
so  far  as  it  was  concerned,  have  been  received  into  heaven. 
Between  that  crisis  and  ascension.  He  has  been  to  the 
deepest  depth  of  suffering,  and  through  death  itself.  There 
can  be  but  one  answer  to  all  these  questionings.  He  has 
wrought  a  victory  for  others.  The  One  in  Whom  death 
had  no  place,  has  died  in  the  place  of  those  who  ought  to 
die.  Gazing  upon  the  perfections  of  the  ascended  Man, 
the  heart  is  filled  with  astonishment,  and  humbled  with  a 
1  Rom.  5  :  12. 


396  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

great  shame,  as  the  light  of  His  glory  falls  upon  the  failure 
of  all  others.  Gazing  upon  that  Perfect  One,  the  "  Lamb 
as  it  had  been  slain,"  realizing  that  the  wounds  tell  of 
penalty  borne,  and  the  words  of  death  vanquished,  the  heart 
is  filled  with  unutterable  sense  of  the  infinite  Love,  the  lips 
break  out  in  song, 

"  Rock  of  Ages,  cleft  for  me, 
Let  me  hide  myself  in  Thee, 
Let  the  water  and  the  blood 
From  Thy  riven  side  which  flowed, 
Be  of  sin  the  double  cure, 
Cleanse  me  from  its  guilt  and  power."  * 

in.  Thus  ascending.  He  led  captivity  captive.  He 
passed  into  the  presence  of  God  with  the  defeated  foes  of 
the  race  dragged  at  His  chariot  wheels,  the  Master  of  sin, 
the  Vanquisher  of  Satan,  the  Overcomer  of  death,  the  in- 
signia of  Whose  victory  were  the  wounds  that  He  bore, 
and  the  fact  that  He  lived  the  life  taken  up  after  having 
been  laid  down  in  death,  p'or  Himself  He  stood  in  the 
perfection  of  His  manhood.  For  man  He  stood  in  the  per- 
fection of  His  Saviourhood. 

It  is  now  that  He  is  invested  with  the  Name.  In  that 
sublimest  of  all  passages  dealing  with  His  descent  and 
ascent,  the  apostle  declares  that  God  gave  unto  Him  "  the 
Name  which  is  above  every  name,"  ^  and  the  occasion  of 
the  giving  of  the  Name  was  His  exaltation  to  heaven,  after 
the  perfect  carrying  out  of  that  Divine  work  of  Love  which 
included  humiliation  and  suffering  and  death. 

In  the  ascension  light  what  Name  is  this  now  bestowed 

upon  the  all  conquering  Man  ?     It  is  the  old  Name,  full  of 

ineffable  music,  the  Name   of  Jesus.     It   is  the  Name  by 

which  His   mother  first  called   Him   in   the  innocence  of 

»  Toplady.  2  phil.  2  :  9, 


God's  Perfect  Man  397 

infancy.  It  is  the  Name  by  which  men  knew  Him  in  the 
purity  of  His  boyhood.  It  is  the  Name  by  which  men 
called  Him  in  the  victory  of  His  Manhood.  It  is  the 
Name  by  which  disciples  knew  Him  in  the  days  of  His 
teaching.  It  is  the  Name  which  men  wrote  over  His 
Cross  in  the  hour  of  His  dying.  It  is  the  old  Name,  and 
yet  He  had  never  received  it  in  all  fullness  until  now.  At 
His  Incarnation  the  Name  was  a  prophecy.  "Thou  shalt 
call  His  Name  Jesus  ;  for  it  is  He  that  shall  save  His  people 
from  their  sins."  ^  That  prophetic  Name  He  carried 
through  all  life's  mystery  and  ministry,  the  Name  that  told 
to  those  that  understood,  that  God's  faith  was  centred  in 
this  innocent  child,  and  holy  Man.  And  now  having  ac- 
complished all,  perfected  to  finality  the  infinite  plan  of  the 
Eternal  Love,  He  is  invested  with  the  Name  which  at  His 
birth  was  prophetic.  The  issue  is  reached,  and  in  the 
centre  of  the  universe  of  God,  the  Man  of  Nazareth  is 
enthroned,  and  named  by  the  sweet  Name  that  ever  speaks 
of  perfect  humanity,  and  ever  declares  the  fulfillment  of  the 
purpose  of  salvation.  At  His  birth  the  Name  of  Jesus 
was  the  proclamation  of  a  Divine  purpose.  On  ascension 
day  it  was  the  ratification  of  a  victory  won.  He  gave  Him 
the  Name — Jesus. 

1  Matt.  1 :  21. 


XXIX 
MAN'S  WOUNDED  GOD 

The  title  of  the  chapter  is  startling,  and  needs  some  ex- 
planation. In  the  previous  chapter  has  been  considered 
the  coming  into  heaven  of  God's  perfect  Man,  bearing  in 
His  body  the  marks  of  His  wounding,  the  evidences  of  His 
dying. 

Attention  still  being  fixed  upon  Him,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  in  that  glory  as  ever,  two  things  are  true  con- 
cerning Him.  First  He  is  God's  Man  ;  and  secondly,  He 
is  man's  God. 

Apart  from  Him,  man  has  no  perfect  understanding  of 
God.  In  Him  man  finds  the  full  and  final  revelation  of 
the  Father.  It  is  impossible  for  men  to  come,  either  in 
understanding  or  in  actual  communion,  to  the  Father  save 
through  the  risen  glorified  Son. 

To  state  this  positively  therefore  is  to  declare  that  man 
approaching  God,  does  so  forevermore,  as  He  has  revealed 
Himself  in  and  through  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Thus  the 
ascended  One  is  man's  God. 

It  is  impossible  to  omit  from  that  ascended  and  reigning 
One  the  wounds  He  bears.  They  are  part  of  His  Person- 
ality, and  speak  of  the  fulfillment  of  a  purpose  which  was 
the  purpose  of  God,  and  which  was  carried  out  by  God  in 
and  through  Jesus.  If  the  perfect  Manhood  of  Jesus  be 
the  perfect  unveiling  before  the  eyes  of  men  of  the  essen- 
tial glories  of  God,  so  the  wounded  Personality  of  Jesus  is 
the  unveiling  before  the  eyes  of  men  of  that  wounding  of 

398 


Man's  Wounded  God  399 

the  heart  of  God,  through  which  His  grace  was  manifested, 
and  wrought  its  mightiest  victory. 

In  Apocalyptic  vision  John  saw  "  in  the  midst  of  the 
throne  ...  a  Lamb  as  though  it  had  been  slain."  ' 
The  reference  is  without  question  to  Christ.  Two 
things  are  manifest,  first  that  He  occupies  the  position  of 
proper  Deity.  He  is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne. 
Secondly  that  He  retains  the  evidences  of  suffering. 
It  is  "  a  Lamb  as  though  it  had  been  slain."  This  double 
fact  speaks  forevermore  of  the  deepest  fact  that  lies  be- 
hind man's  redemption.  This  fact  is  that  of  the  pain  of 
God. 

In  the  book  of  Proverbs,  the  preacher  asks, 

•'  The  spirit  of  a  man  will  sustain  his  infirmity; 
But  a  broken  spirit  who  can  bear?  "^ 

Therein  is  a  recognition  of  the  fact  that  while  the  spirit  of 
a  man  gives  him  strength  for  bearing  physical  infirmity,  the 
deepest  fact  of  sorrow  possible  to  man  is  sorrow  of  the 
spirit. 

Bearing  in  mind  that  illustration  taken  from  the  lower 
realm  of  human  experience,  turn  now  to  a  passage  in  the 
prophecy  of  Isaiah.  "  I  gave  My  back  to  the  smiters,  and 
My  cheeks  to  them  that  plucked  off  the  hair;  I  hid  not  My 
face  from  shame  and  spitting."  ^  Whatever  the  local  and 
incidental  application  of  these  words,  there  is  a  general  con- 
census of  opinion  that  they  are  Messianic  in  their  final  ap- 
plication, finding  their  perfect  fulfillment  only  in  the  ex- 
perience of  Jesus. 

Turning  to  another  passage  in  the  same  prophecy, 
"  Surely  He  hath  borne  our  griefs,  and  carried  our  sorrows; 
yet  we  did  esteem  Him  stricken,  smitten  of  God,  and 
1  Rev.  5:6.  *  Prov.  18 :  14.  » Isa.  50  :  6. 


400  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

afflicted.  But  He  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions,  He 
was  bruised  for  our  iniquities ;  the  chastisement  of  our 
peace  was  upon  Him  ;  and  with  His  stripes  we  are  healed."^ 
The  idea  that  He  was  smitten  of  God  and  stricken  of  God 
is  not  accurate.  It  is  rather  the  portrayal  of  One  Who  in 
perfect  cooperation  with  God  is  bearing  the  smiting  and 
the  bruising  that  comes  upon  human  guilt  through  the 
operation  of  the  inexorable  law  of  God.  The  suffering 
Servant  is  seen  here  as  receiving  those  stripes  which  will 
make  possible  the  healing  of  such  as  ought  to  have  borne 
their  own  penalty.  The  word  to  be  specially  noticed  now 
is  the  word  ''  smitten."  That  is  the  word  translated 
"  broken  "  in  the  quotation  from  the  Proverbs.  While  the 
wounding  of  the  body  of  Jesus  was  the  outward  and  visible 
sign,  it  was  in  the  wounding  of  the  Spirit  that  the  deepest 
mystery  of  His  atoning  suffering  lay.  Thus  in  Jesus,  God 
is  revealed,  not  only  in  His  love,  in  His  holiness,  and  in 
His  justice;  but  in  His  sorrow,  and  in  His  pain. 

At  this  point  there  are  strong  divergences  of  opinion. 
It  has  been  maintained  that  God  is  incapable  of  sorrow,  and 
that  it  was  only  in  the  fact  of  His  Manhood  that  Jesus 
suffered  in  the  place  of  man.  Such  a  conception  of  God 
would  seem  to  be  utterly  unwarranted  by  the  whole  revela- 
tion made  of  Him  in  Scripture,  and  finally  in  the  Person  of 
His  Son.  If  the  Man  was  a  revelation  of  God,  surely  the 
Man  of  sorrows  was  a  revelation  of  the  God  of  sorrow. 
This  capacity  for  sorrow  is  most  evidently  pre-supposed  in 
the  injunction  of  the  apostle,  "  Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit 
of  God."^  The  word  "grieve  "  here  is  purely  a  word  in- 
dicating sorrow.  There  is  no  suspicion  of  anger  in  it. 
The  injunction  does  not  mean.  Do  not  make  the  Spirit 
angry.     It  most  certainly  means.  Do  not  cause  Him  sor- 

•  Isa.  53  :  4,  5.  «  Eph.  4  :  30. 


Man's  Wounded  God  401 

row.  The  fact  to  be  established  is  that  of  the  possibihty 
of  sorrow  in  the  consciousness  of  God.  If  once  this  is  es- 
tablished, then  a  new  light  shines  through  all  the  book. 
The  final  proof  of  the  proposition  is  most  evidently  to  be 
found  in  the  simplest  statement  concerning  God,  namely, 
"  God  is  love."  ^  Love  is  the  capacity  for  joy.  It  is 
therefore,  moreover,  the  capacity  for  sorrow.  Joy  and 
sorrow  are  twin  sisters.  They  are  so  closely  related  that 
it  is  impossible  to  have  capacity  for  one,  without  having 
also  capacity  for  the  other.  That  Jesus  was  the  revelation 
of  God  in  His  marvellous  wisdom,  in  His  splendid  strength, 
no  one  denies.  When  against  tyranny,  and  oppression,  and 
wrong,  His  anger  flamed,  it  is  at  once  conceded  that  the 
indignation  of  God  was  being  revealed.  Can  it  then  be 
denied  that  the  tears  He  shed  in  presence  of  the  grief  of 
the  bereaved  sisters,  were  revelations  of  the  exquisite  ten- 
derness of  the  heart  of  the  Divine,  or  have  we  any  right  to 
affirm  that  when  the  Man  of  Nazareth  gazed  upon  beauti- 
ful Jerusalem  the  curse  alone  was  the  revelation  of  the 
Divine  will  ?  Were  not  the  tears,  and  the  tones  of  emo- 
tion in  the  voice,  equally  means  of  manifesting  to  men  the 
love  and  the  sorrow  of  the  heart  of  God.  It  must  of 
course  be  at  once  granted  that  God  can  never  have  any 
sorrow  which  is  merely  that  of  limitation,  or  that  caused 
by  the  sense  of  mystery.  His  sorrow  must  ever  be  that  of 
sympathy,  with  that  which  is  the  result  of  His  entering 
into  the  actual  experiences  of  another,  and  making  His  own 
what  that  other  feels.  To  understand  this  is  to  read  with 
new  intonation  the  startling  questions  that  occur  in  the  first 
book  of  the  Bible.  When  God  cried  to  Adam  "  Where 
art  thou,"  ^  it  was  not  so  much  the  voice  of  outraged  holiness, 
speaking  in  anger,  as  a  violated  love,  wailing  in  compassion. 
•  I  John  4  :  8.  ^Gen.  3  :  9. 


402  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Jesus  the  wounded  is  therefore  in  expression  to  man, 
and  in  the  fact  of  His  own  Personality,  man's  wounded 
God.  As  the  God-man  on  the  earth  was  the  Revelation 
of  the  Father  in  all  the  wondrous  facts  of  His  Personality, 
so  the  Lamb  slain  in  the  midst  of  the  throne  is  still  the 
Revelation  of  the  Father  in  the  unsullied  light  of  the 
heavenly  places.  The  harmony  between  Father  and  Son  is 
unbroken.  In  the  High  Priest,  Who  can  be  touched  with 
the  feeling  of  our  infirmities,  there  exists  One  Who  ex- 
presses thus  the  fact  of  God's  consciousness  of  all  human 
infirmity  and  all  human  sorrow. 

The  risen  and  ascended  God-man,  having  received  His 
Name,  now  assumes  His  place  in  the  economy  of  God, 
and  the  Divine  purpose  is  declared  that  every  knee  shall 
bow,  in  submission ;  and  every  tongue  shall  confess  in 
acclamation  that  He  is  Lord  to  the  glory  of  God  the 
Father.  Thus  we  may  see  in  Him  the  order  of  a  new 
economy  as  to  its  central  Personality,  and  as  to  the  nature 
of  its  administration. 

L  The  central  Personality  being  that  of  the  ascended 
Man,  is  described  as  a  "  Lamb  as  though  It  had  been  slain," 
and  the  throne  is  the  symbol  of  order.  That  order  had 
been  violated  through  the  terrible  catastrophe  of  human 
sin.  There  was  no  possible  way  for  its  restoration  but  the 
way  of  the  Cross.  Jesus  of  Nazareth  having  wrought 
righteousness  in  life,  and  atonement  in  death,  and  having 
received  the  seal  of  perfect  victory,  in  the  miracle  of  resur- 
rection, now  passes  to  the  very  throne  of  power. 

While  it  is  thus  seen  that  the  only  way  to  the  throne 
was  the  way  of  the  Cross,  it  is  at  once  demonstrated  that 
there  could  be  no  issue  to  the  Cross  of  Christ  other  than 
His  crowning    and    the    ultimate    restoration    of  the  lost 


Man's  Wounded  God  403 

order.  The  ascended  Man  of  Nazareth  in  the  midst  of  the 
throne  is  none  other  than  God  the  Son,  invested  in  the 
counsel  of  the  ever-blessed  Trinity  with  all  authority,  upon 
the  basis  of  redemption  work  accomplished,  and  victory  won 
over  all  the  enemies  of  the  human  race. 

II.  The  issue  of  this  is  self-evident.  The  Man  of 
Nazareth  in  the  midst  of  the  throne,  occupies  the  seat  of 
final  authority,  and  therefore  constitutes  the  last  court  of 
appeal.  There  can  be  no  appeal  beyond  that  throne.  His 
word  is  the  universal  law.  His  verdict  the  irrevocable  sen- 
tence. As  in  resurrection,  God  rejected  man  apart  from 
Christ,  so  in  Christ's  enthronement.  He  receives  man  in 
Him.  Thus  those  who  are  united  to  Him  are  already 
seated  in  Him  in  the  heavenlies.  Forevermore  therefore 
the  word  of  the  Church  is  that  which  so  often  occurred  in 
apostolic  preaching,  "Jesus  is  Lord."  ^  It  is  the  word 
of  salvation  to  the  individual,  the  word  of  reconstruction  to 
society,  the  word  of  ultimate  deliverance  to  all  the  nations. 
Herein  therefore  lies  the  true  centre  of  sin,  as  He  Himself 
said,  "  of  sin,  because  they  believe  not  on  Me."^  It  is 
still  true  of  the  world  at  large  that 

"  Our  Lord  is  now  rejected, 

And  by  the  world  disowned. 
By  the  many  still  neglected, 
And  by  the  few  enthroned."  ' 

Yet  He  is  God-enthroned,  and  the  future  of  an  individual, 
of  society,  of  a  nation  is  being  determined  by  the  relation 
of  each  to  Him.  The  Man  of  Nazareth,  ascending  on 
high,  led  captivity  captive,  and  passed  beyond  all  principal- 
ities and  powers,  yea,  beyond  every  name  that  is  named  to 
the  very  throne  of  God,  and  there  to-day  He  sits,  still  re- 
»  I  Cor.  12:  3.  5  John  i6:  9.  3  Major  Whittle. 


404  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

jected  by  men,  and  yet  being  crowned  by  thousands  who 
listening  to  His  voice,  obey  it. 

It  is  impossible  to  pass  from  this  contemplation  of  the 
ascension  of  Jesus  to  the  centre  of  all  government,  and  to 
see  in  Him  man's  wounded  God,  without  becoming  con- 
scious of  a  great  comfort  and  of  a  great  strength.  The 
comfort  ever  comes  as  we  behold  on  the  throne  of  the 
Eternal,  One  Who  bears  amid  the  dazzling  splendour, 
marks  that  tell  of  His  having  suffered  and  died  for  us  men, 
that  He  might  bring  us  into  union  with  His  unending  joy 
and  eternal  Love. 

Moreover  when  the  work  presses,  and  the  battle  thickens, 
and  the  day  seems  long  in  coming,  it  is  good  for  the  heart 
to  remember  that  the  present  conflict  is  with  defeated  foes, 
and  that  there  is  no  room  for  question  as  to  the  final  issue, 
for  the  Man  of  Nazareth  is  not  only  seated  in  the  place  of 
authority.  He  carries  forward  the  work  of  active  adminis- 
tration. This  is  a  fact  too  often  forgotten  amid  the  tur- 
moil and  the  strife.  High  over  all  the  thrones  of  earth, 
stands  that  throne  of  the  Eternal,  and  seated  on  it  is  the 
ascended  Man,  watching,  ordering,  preventing,  and  through 
all  the  apparent  chaos,  moving  surely  towards  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  the  Infinite  Love.  He  initiates  the  true  poli- 
cies, selects  the  proper  agents,  and  even  when  man  least 
understands,  moves  ever  onward. 

In  the  Person  of  the  crowned  Man  of  Nazareth  justice 
acts  forevermore  in  mercy,  and  mercy  moves  in  unerring 
justice.  Justice  acts  in  mercy  by  pardoning,  purifying, 
perfecting  upon  the  basis  of  that  Passion,  the  signs  of 
which  are  in  the  evidences  of  the  slaying.  Mercy  operates 
in  justice  by  the  justification,  sanctification,  glorification  of 
those  who  submitting  to  the  King,  receive  the  blessing  of 
the  Saviour. 


XXX 

THE  NEW  UNION 

Having  attempted  to  follow  the  Lord  as  He  ascended  to 
the  right  hand  of  the  Father,  and  having  seen  Him  in  the 
height  of  the  heavenly  glory,  a  perfect  Man,  fulfilling  the 
Divine  ideal,  the  perfect  Saviour  having  provided  a  ransom 
for  the  lost ;  and  having  moreover,  recognized  anew  the 
fact  that  this  exalted  Man  is  our  God,  there  remains  to  be 
considered  somewhat  more  closely,  the  new  union  between 
God  and  man,  consummated  when  the  Man  of  Nazareth 
received  the  promise  of  the  Father. 

In  his  first  sermon  after  Pentecost,  Peter,  referring  to  the 
ascended  Christ,  declared  that  He  "  having  received  of  the 
Father  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  ^  had  poured  forth 
the  gift  upon  the  waiting  disciples.  The  present  study  is 
an  attempt  to  understand  what  the  apostle  meant,  when  he 
said  that  Jesus  had  received  the  promise  of  the  Spirit. 

Most  certainly  this  is  a  declaration  that  upon  the  basis  of 
His  finished  work  of  life,  and  on  the  occasion  of  His  ar- 
rival in  heaven,  Jesus  of  Nazareth  did  receive,  by  a  solemn 
and  official  act  from  the  Father,  the  Holy  Spirit  according 
to  promise.  The  first  question  that  suggests  itself  to 
the  mind  is.  Why  was  the  Spirit  now  given  to  this  as- 
cended Man,  and  in  what  sense  was  the  Spirit  given  to 
Him  ?  It  cannot  possibly  be  that  the  bestowment  of  the 
Spirit  was  for  Himself.  His  whole  human  life  had  been 
conditioned  by  the  abiding  presence  in  Him  of  the  Holy 

I  Acts  2  :  33. 
405 


4o6  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Spirit  of  God,  and  that  in  fulfillment  of  the  primal  Divine 
intention  concerning  man.  It  is  important  that  there 
should  be  perfect  clearness  of  understanding  of  this  fact. 
His  reception  of  the  Spirit  in  heaven  w^as  not  the  crowning 
by  God  of  His  Manhood.  It  was  rather  the  answer  of 
God  to  the  claim  this  Man  made  upon  Him,  by  the  work 
He  had  accomplished  for  others. 

To  state  this  even  more  fully.  The  whole  Being  of 
Christ,  and  the  whole  mission  of  Christ  were  so  closely  as- 
sociated with  the  presence  and  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
that  there  could  be  no  necessity  for  any  new  bestowment 
of  the  Spirit  merely  for  Himself.  His  very  human  life 
was  due  to  the  mystery  of  the  overshadowing  Spirit  and 
through  all  the  years  of  privacy,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
He  lived  under  the  immediate  guidance  of  the  Spirit  of 
truth.  He  did  not,  at  the  baptism,  receive  the  Spirit.  At 
that  crisis,  the  presence  of  the  Spirit  was  manifest,  and  in  a 
new  symbolism  that  suggested  the  truth  that  His  work 
would  be  carried  out  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit.  The 
dove-like  form  in  which  the  Spirit  then  appeared, — a  form  in 
which  He  is  never  manifested  in  connection  with  any  other 
person,  save  the  Christ :  a  form  suggestive  of  tender  gentle 
patience — revealed  the  truth  concerning  the  character  of 
Jesus  ;  and  announced  that  in  keeping  with  that  essential 
of  His  nature,  all  His  work  would  be  carried  forward. 
Filled  with  the  Spirit,  He  passed  to  the  wilderness  to  be 
tempted  of  the  devil,  and  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit  He 
went  forth  to  His  ministry,  when  all  the  temptation  was 
accomplished.  And  at  the  last  it  was  "  through  the  eternal 
Spirit  "  He  "  offered  Himself  without  blemish  unto  God."^ 
And  yet  we  have  a  declaration  that  having  passed  through 
death,  and  having  ascended  to  the  presence  of  the  Father, 
'  Heb.  9 :  14. 


The  New  Union  407 

He  received  there  from  the  Father  the  promise  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

An  explanation  of  the  declaration  will  be  found  in  a 
correct  apprehension  of  what  is  meant  by  the  promise  of 
the  Spirit.  Where,  and  to  whom  was  the  promise  made  .? 
The  whole  subject  may  be  considered  under  the  following 
heads,  first,  the  promise  of  the  Spirit  fulfilled  in  His  be- 
stowment  upon  the  ascended  Man  ;  second,  the  Spirit  re- 
ceived by  the  ascended  Man  for  those  whom  He  repre- 
sented as  Saviour ;  third,  the  union  of  God  and  man 
resulting. 

I.  In  the  final  charges  delivered  to  the  apostles,  Christ 
distinctly  commanded  them  not  to  depart  from  Jerusalem, 
but  "  to  wait  for  the  promise  of  the  Father."  '  Here  is  the 
same  thought,  uttered  by  the  Lord  Himself,  and  here  also 
He  distinctly  tells  them  when  the  promise  was  made, 
"  which,  said  He,  ye  heard  from  Me."  Thus  it  is  evident 
that  we  are  approaching  an  explanation  of  this  statement. 
Christ  had  promised  the  Spirit,  and  He  had  done  that  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  for  Whom  He  ever  spake  to  men. 
Is  there  no  definite  account  of  His  having  made  such  a 
promise  ?  Most  assuredly  there  is  an  account,  which  is 
not  only  definite,  but  also  detailed,  and  it  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Paschal  discourses,  which  are  chronicled  by  John  alone. 
"  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  He  shall  give  you  another 
Comforter,  that  He  may  be  with  you  forever,  even  the 
Spirit  of  truth  :  Whom  the  world  cannot  receive."  ^  "  But 
the  Comforter  even  the  Holy  Spirit,  Whom  the  Father 
will  send  in  My  name."  ^  "  When  the  Comforter  is  come, 
Whom  I  will  send  unto  you  from  the  Father."  ^  Thus  in 
view  of  His  approaching  Cross,  and  in  preparation  of  His 
•Acts  1 :  4.  -John  14:  16,  17.  ^  John  14:  26.  •"John  15  :  26. 


4o8  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

disciples  for  the  days  when  He  in  bodily  form  should  be  no 
more  with  them,  He  declared  that  in  answer  to  His  prayer, 
and  in  His  Name,  the  Father  would  send  them  another 
Comforter,  the  Holy  Spirit.  Nothing  is  more  evident  in 
reading  these  discourses  than  the  quiet  majestic  confidence 
of  Christ.  "  I  will  enquire  of  the  Father."  ^'  He  will 
send  you."  "  The  Father  will  send  in  My  name."  "  I 
will  send  you  from  the  Father."  That  is  the  promise  of 
the  Father,  and  when  the  One  Who  made  the  promise  to 
the  band  of  disciples,  ascended  into  heaven,  the  Father 
recognized  the  prevailmg  plea  of  His  presence  there,  and 
gave  Him  the  Spirit  that  He  might  fulfill  the  promise  to 
the  waiting  men  upon  the  earth. 

It  is  evident  therefore  that  His  reception  of  the  Spirit 
was,  as  has  been  shown,  not  for  Himself  but  for  others. 
This  however  will  be  dealt  with  more  fully  subsequently. 
It  would  be  sufficient  to  leave  the  statement  at  this  point, 
and  yet  that  phrase  "  the  promise  of  the  Father  "  has  more 
in  it  than  is  indicated  by  this  answer.  As  the  whole  of  the 
Old  Testament  economy  had  culminated  in  Christ,  and  as 
in  His  teaching  He  had  fulfilled  all  that  was  symbolized 
and  suggested  in  that  economy,  so  His  uttering  of  the 
promise  of  the  Father  concerning  the  Spirit  was  the  ex- 
planation of  a  constant  message,  sounding  through  the 
previous  centuries,  concerning  a  new  dispensation  of  power. 
The  seers  and  the  prophets  of  the  past  all  saw  and  spoke 
of  a  day  full  of  light,  full  of  force,  a  day  of  restoration 
that  was  yet  to  come.  Through  these  prophets  the  Father 
had  promised  the  Holy  Spirit  to  men  in  larger,  fuller 
measure  than  had  ever  been  experienced.  In  the  midst  of 
the  darkness  that  characterized  the  age  in  which  these  men 
of  old  had  spoken,  they  had  looked  on  towards  the  suffering 
Servant,  Who  was  yet  to  be  the  all-conquering  Deliverer, 


The  New  Union  409 

and  stretching  away  beyond  His  day  of  suffering,  they 
caught  the  light  and  glory  of  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit. 
One  or  two  illustrations  will  suffice. 

Isaiah,  in  lofty  and  terrible  language  is  announcing  the 
coming  of  judgment.  He  tells  of  woe  and  of  desolation, 
and  ends  with  a  paragraph  pulsating  with  hope,  which  be- 
gins with  the  words  "  until  the  Spirit  be  poured  upon  us 
from  on  high,  and  the  wilderness  become  a  fruitful  field, 
and  the  fruitful  field  be  esteemed  as  a  forest."  ^  Here  the 
prophet,  telling  the  message  of  Jehovah,  promises  the 
Spirit. 

And  yet  again  the  same  prophet,  "  I  will  pour  water  upon 
him  that  is  thirsty,  and  streams  upon  the  dry  ground ;  I 
will  pour  My  Spirit  upon  thy  seed,  and  My  blessing  upon 
thine  offspring  :  and  they  shall  spring  up  among  the  grass,  as 
willows  by  the  watercourses.  One  shall  say,  I  am  Je- 
hovah's ;  and  another  shall  call  himself  by  the  name  of 
Jacob;  and  another  shall  subscribe  with  his  hand  unto 
Jehovah,  and  surname  himself  by  the  name  of  Israel,"  ^ 
again  an  inspired  promise  of  the  Spirit. 

There  remains  the  most  radiant  and  remarkable  fore- 
telling of  the  Spirit's  dispensation,  which  Peter  quoted  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost  itself.  "  I  will  pour  out  My  Spirit 
upon  all  flesh  ;  and  your  sons  and  your  daughters  shall 
prophesy,  your  old  men  shall  dream  dreams,  your  young 
men  shall  see  visions :  and  also  upon  the  servants  and  upon 
the  handmaids  in  those  days  will  I  pour  out  My  Spirit. 
And  I  will  show  wonders  in  the  heavens  and  in  the  earth  : 
blood,  and  fire,  and  pillars  of  smoke.  The  sun  shall  be 
turned  into  darkness,  and  the  moon  into  blood,  before  the 
great  and  terrible  day  of  Jehovah  cometh.  And  it  shall 
come  to  pass,  that  whosoever  shall  call  on  the  name  of 
1  Isa.  33 :  15.  2  Isa.  44 :  3-5. 


41  o  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Jehovah  shall  be  delivered."  ^  Thus  it  is  seen  that  the 
men  who  kept  alive  in  the  heart  of  the  nation  this  spiritual 
hope,  were  men  who  served,  and  spoke  in  the  hope  of  the 
coming  of  a  new  day,  which  should  be  a  day  of  the  poured 
out  Spirit  of  God.  Thus  the  promise  which  Jesus  made 
in  the  Paschal  discourses  was  the  repetition  of  the  promise 
made  to  the  fathers  by  the  prophets,  by  the  One  Who  now 
not  only  promised,  but  was  working  towards  the  mighty 
consummation,  which  should  consist  in  fulfillment. 

In  order  to  catch  a  true  perspective,  let  this  argument 
now  be  summarized.  God,  through  the  prophets  in  the 
past  had  promised  the  Holy  Spirit  to  men.  These  heroic 
souls  hearing  and  seeing,  declared  to  their  age  the  gracious 
announcement,  and  yet  passed  away  without  seeing  the  day 
of  which  they  spoke.  In  fullness  of  time  the  Messiah 
came.  He  accomplished  the  will  of  God,  and  at  last, 
passing  into  the  presence  of  God,  claimed  as  the  inevitable 
issue  of  His  victory,  the  fulfillment  of  the  Divine  promise, 
made  to,  and  through  the  prophets,  and  finally  uttered  by 
His  own  lips.  In  answer  to  that  claim,  God  acting  at  once 
in  love  and  justice,  gave  Him  the  Spirit.  Through  Him 
the  dreams  of  the  prophets  moved  into  the  realm  of  deeds. 

II.  Having  clearly  seen  that  this  bestowment  of  the 
Spirit  was  not  for  Himself,  it  becomes  perfectly  evident 
that  it  was  a  bestowment  for  such  as  were  represented  by 
that  infinite  work  accomplished  through  His  death  and 
resurrection.  The  fact  of  His  death  makes  righteous  de- 
mands upon  God,  which,  God  answering,  Jesus  receives 
for  bestowment,  that  which  He  Himself  already  had  pos- 
sessed for  personal  life  and  victory.  His  death  having 
been  accomplished  for  sinners,  the  Spirit  is  now  bestowed 

'  Joel  2 :  28-32. 


The  New  Union  411 

for  them  also.  What  symbols  or  figures  of  speech  are 
equal  to  helping  men  to  understand  this  solemn  and  won- 
drous transaction.  Reverently  conscious  of  the  inadequacy 
of  all  figures  of  speech,  it  may  be  said  that  God  placed  the 
Spirit  at  the  disposal  of  Christ,  that  He  might  bestow  Him 
upon  all  such  as  trusting  in  Jesus  have  counted  to  them 
the  value  of  His  death  upon  the  Cross.  Having  accom- 
plished that  Mediatorial  work  through  which  man  may  in 
the  value  of  His  death  be  brought  back  to  God,  He  now 
commences  that  Mediatorial  work  through  which  God  the 
Holy  Spirit  may  come  back  into  relation  with  man,  for  the 
administration  of  the  virtue  of  His  life. 

HI.  Confining  the  attention  exclusively  for  the  mo- 
ment to  the  new  union  as  seen  in  the  Man  Jesus,  it  is 
evident  that  now  God  has  moved  into  a  new  relationship 
with  fallen  man,  and  man  is  lifted  in  spite  of  his  fall,  into 
new  relation  with  God  in  the  Person  of  Jesus.  Jesus  the 
unfallen  is  yet  Jesus,  Who  has  borne  the  final  issues,  re- 
sulting from  the  fall.  His  reception  of  the  Spirit  is  there- 
fore a  representative  fact,  declaring  forevermore  that  in 
spite  of  sin,  a  way  has  been  made  back  to  fellowship  with 
God.  Such  relation  had  never  been  nor  could  be,  apart 
from  this  great  fact.  The  Holy  Spirit  Who  knows  the 
mind  of  God,  Who  "  searches  all  things,  yea  the  deep 
things  of  God,"  ^  Who  is  the  Spirit  of  life  forever  pro- 
ceeding from  the  Father,  is  now  vested  in  the  Man  of 
Nazareth,  and  through  Him  is  at  the  disposal  of  all  such 
as  submit  to  His  Lordship.  The  Spirit  of  God  Who  had 
been  grieved  from  humanity,  and  prevented  operating  in  the 
human  heart,  as  to  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  the  life  of 
God,  and  the  power  of  God,  is  now  through  this  perfect 

•  I  Cor.  2 :  10. 


412  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

Man,  in  Whom  was  no  sin,  yet  in  Whom  is  resident  the 
moral  value  of  cancelled  sin,  at  the  disposal  of  the  rebel- 
lious also.  The  ascended  Christ  has  now  become  the  new 
Centre  of  a  new  race.  Henceforth  the  Spirit  will  plead 
with  man  the  cause  of  Christ,  demonstrating  the  fact  that 
sin  consists  in  rejection  of  Him,  declaring  the  evangel  that 
righteousness  is  possible  because  He  has  ascended  to  the 
Father,  and  denouncing  forever  the  ultimate  doom  of  evil, 
because  the  "  prince  of  this  world  hath  been  judged."  ' 

Having  received  this  promise  of  the  Father,  the  ascended 
Lord  poured  out  upon  the  waiting  disciples  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  so  the  promise  fulfilled  to  Christ,  is  ful- 
filled to  those  who  have  put  their  trust  in  Him,  and  herein 
is  revealed  the  explanation  of  all  the  careful  statements  of 
His  own  discourses  on  the  Paraclete.  The  Father  has 
sent  the  Spirit,  because  He  has  bestowed  Him  on  the  Man 
that  represents  the  fallen  race.  The  Son  has  sent  the 
Spirit,  having  received  Him  from  the  Father. 

One  brief  glance  at  the  fact  on  earth  will  serve  to  com- 
plete the  present  study,  and  prepare  for  those  that  remain. 
In  the  upper  room  at  Jerusalem,  a  company  of  waiting 
souls  received  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  not  in  answer  to 
their  prayer,  but  in  answer  to  the  prevailing  prayer  in  high 
heaven  of  the  ascended  Man  of  Nazareth.  The  Holy 
Spirit  falling  upon  them,  took  up  His  abode  in  them,  com- 
ing to  them  from  the  crucified,  risen,  and  ascended  Lord. 
In  the  Person  of  Jesus  the  point  of  union  between  man  and 
God  has  been  found.  Jesus  is  glorified  by  God  in  exalta- 
tion to  the  throne  of  power.  Jesus  is  glorified  by  man  in 
his  submission  to  Him  as  enthroned. 

The  Spirit  indwelling  man,  administers  all  the  values  of 
the  finished  work  of  Jesus. 

'  John  i6:  ii. 


The  New  Union  413 

This  means  that  the  men  so  indwelt,  are  by  that  Spirit 
Who  administers  the  values,  made  one  with  the  risen 
Christ.  His  life  is  their  life  as  to  its  nature,  for  it  is  life 
won  out  of  death,  risen,  ascended  and  yet  to  be  manifested  ; 
as  to  its  expression,  for  it  is  life  interested  in  the  things  of 
God,  and  devoted  in  its  powers  to  the  accomplishment  of 
Divine  purposes ;  as  to  its  whole,  for  henceforth  for  them 
also  the  one  and  only  rule  of  life  will  be  the  good  and  per- 
fect and  acceptable  will  of  God. 

And  yet  again,  the  Spirit's  indwelling  initiates  a  process 
of  growth  into  perfect  likeness  to  Christ  by  the  subjugation 
of  the  whole  man,  spirit,  soul,  and  body  to  the  new  life 
imparted  in  this  miracle  of  regeneration.  Thus  the  out- 
pouring of  the  Spirit  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  is  the  demon- 
stration of  the  fact  that  the  stupendous  work  to  which  God 
set  Himself  according  to  His  wisdom  and  His  might  in  the 
Person  and  mission  of  Christ  has  been  fully  accomplished. 
It  now  remains  to  consider  how  Christ  answers  the  call  of 
man  in  all  its  deepest  meaning. 


RESULTANT 

THE  ANSWER  OF  CHRIST— MAN  REDEEMED 


XXXI.  Man  Restored  to  God  by  Christ 
XXXII.  Man  Knowing  God  Through  Christ 
XXXIII.  Man  Made  Like  God  in  Christ 


"  He  found  me  the  lost  and  the  wanderingy 
The  sinful^  the  sad^  and  the  lone  y 
He  said  ^  '  /  have  bought  thee,,  beloved^ 
Forever  thou  art  Mine  own. 

"  '  O  soul^  I  will  show  thee  the  wonder ^ 
The  worth  of  My  priceless  Blood  ' 
Thou  art  whiter  than  snow  on  the  mountains. 
Thou  art  fair  in  the  eyes  of  God. 

*' '  O  vessel  of  living  water ^ 

From  the  depths  of  the  love  divine. 
The  glorious  life  within  thee 
Flows  from  My  heart  to  thine. 


(( ( 


O  soul  altogether  lovely ,, 

O  pearl  for  which  Christ  was  given, 
Wouldst  thou  know  the  joy  and  the  glory 

That  welcome  thee  into  Heaven  ? 

*' '  IVouldst  thou  know  how  near  to  the  Father 
The  place  that  is  granted  thee  f 
Behold  Me,  O  soul,  in  His  bosom. 
And  measure  His  love  to  Me. 

** '  Are  the  love,  and  the  joy,  and  the  glory 
More  than  My  Blood  could  win  ? 
In  the  Name  of  the  Son  Beloved, 
Beloved  one,  enter  in.'  " 

—V.  M.  C. 
**  Hymns  of  Ter  Steegen,  Suso  and  others.** 


Concerning  the  faith  in  Christ  Jesus. — Acts  24. :  24. 

God    was    in    Christ    reconciling    the  world    unto    Himself. — 
2  Cor.  5  .•  ig. 

A  man  in  Christ. — 2  Cor.  12  :  2. 

Approved  in  Christ. — Rom.  16  :  10. 

Blessed     .     .     .     with  every  spiritual  blessing  in  the  heaven- 
lies  in  Christ. — Eph.  i :  j. 

God   Who  always  leadeth  us  in  triumph  in    Christ. — 2   Cor. 
2  •  14. 

The  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first. — i  Thess.  4  :  16. 


417 


RESULTANT 

THE  ANSWER  OF  CHRIST— MAN  REDEEMED 

As  at  the  first,  in  order  to  a  correct  understanding  of  the 
meaning  of  Christ's  mission,  it  was  necessary  to  consider 
the  nature  and  extent  of  the  calamity  which  constituted  the 
call  for  Christ,  so  now  at  the  close  of  the  study  it  will  be 
profitable  to  contemplate  how  perfectly  He  has  responded, 
in  the  plenteous  redemption  He  has  provided. 

The  statement  of  the  case  concerning  that  provision  may 
be  made  in  three  propositions,  which  correspond  to  the 
threefold  statement  concerning  man's  need, 

First,  Man  restored  to  God  by  Christ. 

Second,  Man  knowing  God  through  Christ. 

Third,  Man  made  like  God  in  Christ. 

The  actual  experience  of  the  threefold  redemption  in 
human  life  always  results  from  the  direct  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  Whom  the  Father  had  promised,  and  Who 
was  given  through  the  Son  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  dispen- 
sationally,  and  to  each  individual  for  indwelling  life,  when 
in  response  to  His  work  of  conviction  from  without,  Jesus 
is  glorified.  As  this  book  is  to  be  devoted  rather  to  an 
examination  of  the  resulting  facts  than  to  the  initial  act,  it 
is  fitting  that  that  act  should  first  be  dealt  with  briefly,  as 
to  its  condition  and  its  actuality. 

The  first  work  of  the  Spirit  with  fallen  man  is  that  of 
producing  conviction  concerning  sin,  righteousness,  and 
judgment.  All  these  subjects  are  dealt  with,  however, 
from  the  centre  of  Christ  and  His  work.     Sin  is  shown  to 

419 


420  Resultant 

consist  in  the  rejection  of  the  Saviour ;  righteousness  is  de- 
clared to  be  possible  through  the  fact  of  His  ascension  ; 
and  judgment  is  pronounced  against  all  rebellion,  "  because 
the  prince  of  this  world  hath  been  judged."  '  The  initial 
work,  of  grace  therefore  is  that  of  bringing  the  sinner  to  a 
consciousness  of  the  truth  concerning  these  vital  matters. 
At  this  point  human  responsibility  commences.  If  man 
refuses  to  yield  to  the  truth  understood,  he  remains  outside 
the  sphere  of  salvation.  If  on  the  other  hand,  he  responds 
to  conviction  by  submission  to  Christ,  and  trust  in  Him, 
then  the  spirit  performs  the  stupendous  miracle  of  regenera- 
tion. By  communicating  to  the  man  "  dead  through  tres- 
passes and  sins,"  ^  the  life  of  Christ,  He  quickens  his 
spirit.  This  act  of  God  restores  man  to  his  own  true 
balance  and  proportion,  lifting  to  the  throne  of  his  person- 
ality the  spirit  so  long  neglected,  and  dethroning  the  flesh 
so  long  having  occupied  the  place  of  power.  More  than 
this,  the  Spirit  of  God  enters  now  into  a  perpetual  partner- 
ship with  the  spirit  of  man,  and  thus  initiates  the  life  of 
power  and  of  victory. 

This  of  course  is  simply  a  condensed  statement  concern- 
ing most  important  truths  dealt  with  more  fully  in  another 
volume.  ^  Upon  the  basis  of  this  statement  it  is  now  pos- 
sible to  pass  to  an  examination  of  the  redemption  provided, 
under  the  propositions  stated. 

>  John  i6 : 8-1 1  >  Eph.  2:1.  s  «  The  Spirit  of  God." 


XXXI 

MAN  RESTORED  TO  GOD  BY  CHRIST 

In  previous  studies  two  subjects  have  been  dealt  with, 
which  must  now  be  recalled  and  carefully  remembered. 
First  that  man  by  his  sin,  distanced  himself  from  God, 
passed  out  of  the  region  of  communion,  and  was  "  alienated 
from  the  life  of  God."  ^  Second,  in  the  raising  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  from  among  the  dead,  God  accepted  Him  as 
the  One  Who  perfectly  realized  His  original  design  in  the 
creation  of  man,  and  by  that  raising  finally  rejected  man  in 
his  failure  and  in  his  sin.  He  nevertheless,  in  that  same 
reception  by  resurrection,  received  in  Christ  all  those  for 
whom  He  stood  in  the  sacred  and  awful  mystery  of  His 
death  on  the  Cross.  It  becomes  evident  therefore  that 
when,  by  the  regenerative  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  man  is 
joined  to  Christ,  he  is  restored  to  God.  This  restoration 
is  marvellous  in  its  completeness  and  overwhelming  as  a 
manifestation  of  the  wisdom  of  God.  Some  understanding 
of  it  may  be  gained  by  an  examination  under  three  aspects, 
as  judicial,  vital,  and  governmental. 

I.  Man's  judicial  restoration  to  God  is  indicated  by  the 
great  word  justification.  The  term  is  forensic.  Behind 
it  lies  the  fact  of  law,  and  also  the  profounder  fact  of 
justice.  The  greatest  problem  in  man's  redemption  was 
that  of  how  it  was  possible  for  God  to  be  just,  and  yet  to 
justify  the  sinner.     The  answer  is  to  be  found  in  the  res- 

>Eph.  4:  i8. 
421 


422  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

toration  of  man  in  Christ  Jesus.  In  the  mystery  of  the 
Master's  passion,  He  endured  what  was  not  His  due. 
Considering  this  for  a  moment  without  reference  to  the 
need  of  the  sinner,  it  is  at  once  seen  how  that  in  the  realm 
of  law,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  eternal  principle  of 
justice,  these  sufferings  created  a  value  which  was  not  re- 
quired by  the  One  Who  suffered,  and  apart  from  the  fact 
of  man's  sin,  is  an  overplus  in  the  working  of  the  Infinite 
Order.  This  value  has  been  created  for  those  who  have 
violated  law,  and  is  placed  at  the  disposal  of  all  such. 
Those  receiving  the  benefit  by  submission  to,  and  trust  in, 
the  Saviour,  are  thus  so  far  as  the  guilt  of  sin  is  concerned, 
justified  before  God  and  made  nigh  to  Him. 

Yet  again,  by  thus  cancelling  sin,  the  perfection  of  the 
life  of  Jesus  is  made  to  count  for  others  also,  and  God  im- 
putes it  to  those  for  whom  the  value  of  His  death  has  can- 
celled the  guilt  of  sin.  This  union  with  Christ  is  wrought 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  communication  of  life.  This  is 
done  when  man,  under  the  conviction  of  the  Spirit,  believes 
in  Christ,  so  that  God  may  be  "just,  and  the  Justifier  of 
him  that  hath  faith  in  Jesus."  *  Man  exercising  faith  in 
Christ,  has  imputed  to  him  by  the  grace  of  God  the  value 
created  by  Christ's  death,  for  pardon  ;  and  all  the  perfection 
of  Christ's  life  for  righteousness.  Therefore  the  sinner 
standing  in  Jesus,  is  a  sinner  no  longer,  but  a  saint, 
separated  in  Christ  to  God,  and  so  restored.  He  has  no 
guilt;  that  is  cancelled.  He  has  righteousness;  that  is  be- 
stowed. Such  an  one  is  restored  to  God,  because  the 
reasons  of  his  exclusion  are  all  removed.  The  sword 
guarding  the  way  to  the  tree  of  life  becomes  the  light  of 
truth,  illuminating  all  the  pathway.  The  veil,  enclosing 
the  Holy  of  Holies,  and  excluding  man,  being  rent,  becomes 
*  Rom.  3 :  26. 


Man  Restored  to  God  by  Christ         423 

the  glorious  portal  to  the  inner  places  of  fullest  com- 
munion. Henceforward  neither  hell,  nor  earth,  nor 
heaven  can  condemn  the  trusting  soul,  for  in  Christ  Jesus 
every  claim  has  been  fully  met,  and  every  provision  per- 
fectly made. 

II.  The  fact  of  vital  restoration  has  necessarily  been 
already  stated  incidentally,  but  it  now  remains  to  be  more 
fully  considered.  In  order  to  a  right  appreciation  of  this, 
there  must  be  a  clear  understanding  of  the  nature  of  the 
life  communicated  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  speaking  of  re- 
generation it  is  not  sufficient  to  say  that  there  is  an  imparta- 
tion  of  new  human  vitality.  Neither  is  it  absolutely 
correct  to  speak  only  of  the  communication  of  a  new 
measure  of  Divine  life.  It  is  neither,  merely  because  it  is 
both.  Herein  is  the  great  mystery  and  wonder  of  Chris- 
tianity. The  Spirit  imparts  in  regeneration  the  Christ  life, 
and  that  is  at  once  human  and  Divine.  Thus,  all  essential 
human  life  is  surcharged  with  new  life  of  its  own  most 
perfect  order,  but  it  is  also  energized  with  the  force  of  life 
Divine,  in  inseparable  union  therewith.  Thus  in  Christ, 
man  is  restored  to  the  possibilities  of  his  own  nature,  but 
also  he  is  introduced  to  a  new  vital  union  with  God  more 
marvellous  as  to  its  potentiality  and  possibility  than  that  of 
original  man. 

"  Where  He  displays  His  healing  power, 
Death  and  the  curse  are  known  no  more : 
In  Him  the  tribes  of  Adam  boast 
More  blessings  than  their  fathers  lost."  • 

All  man's  inability  is  overcome  in  God's  ability.  The 
sinner  is  lifted  from  the  impotence  of  his  fallen  nature,  into 

1  Watts. 


424  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

the  potency  of  the  perfect  Man  Jesus  in  cooperation  with 
the  might  of  the  Eternal  God.  What  wonder  that  Paul 
exclaimed,  "  I  can  do  all  things  in  Him  that  strengthen- 
eth  me."  * 

The  great  theme  of  the  Colossian  epistle  is  that  of  the 
perfection  of  the  Church  in  the  perfection  of  the  Christ. 
All  its  sublime  doctrine  gathers  around  two  main  state- 
ments, first,  "  It  was  the  good  pleasure  of  the  Father  that 
in  Him  should  all  the  fullness  dwell;  "^  and  second,  "In 
Him  ye  are  made  full."  ^  The  fullness  dwelling  in  Christ 
is  fullness  of  Deity,  which  is  fullness  of  life,  fullness  of 
light,  fullness  of  love.  It  is  in  Him  and  in  His  fullness 
that  man  is  made  full.  Can  anything  be  added  to  such 
statements  as  these  ?  Some  idea  of  their  value,  and  yet  of 
the  difficulty  of  expressing  that  value,  and  even  of  appre- 
ciating it,  may  be  gathered  from  examining  one  paragraph 
in  that  letter.*  Here  the  word  "  mystery  "  occurs  thrice. 
First  the  apostle  refers  to  the  Church  as  the  mystery 
"  which  hath  been  hid  for  ages  and  generations :  but  now 
hath  it  been  manifested  to  His  saints."  He  then  declares 
the  mystery  lying  behind  the  mystery  of  the  Church  to  be 
that  of  *'  Christ  in  you,  the  hope  of  glory."  And  yet 
further  on  he  speaks  of  "  the  mystery  of  God,  even  Christ." 
Evidently  here  the  apostle  is  moving  backward  through 
great  mysteries  of  effect  to  the  primal  mystery  of  cause. 
Let  this  threefold  mystery  be  stated  thus: 

1.  Christ. 

2.  Christ  in  the  saints. 

3.  Christ  in  the  Church. 

The  central  mystery  is  that  of  Christ  Himself,  the  mystery 
of  His  Person,  in  its  unity  of  the  human  and  the  Divine, 
and  the  mystery  of  His  passion  in  the  preparation  of  the 
>  Phil.  4:13.  5  Col.  1  :  19.  3  Col.  2:  10.  ^CoL  i  :  24-2 :  5. 


Man  Restored  to  God  by  Christ  425 

life,  and  the  propitiation  of  the  death  j  a  veritable  mystery, 
most  evidently  revealed,  and  most  absolutely  defying  analy- 
sis or  explanation. 

Then  follovv^s  the  mystery  of  personal  realization, 
"  Christ  in  you,  the  hope  of  glory."  Christ  the  human 
and  the  Divine,  in  one  indissoluble  unity  in  the  believer, 
administering  the  virtue  of  His  life  through  the  value  of 
His  death. 

Then  finally  the  Christ  in  all  believers,  finding  at  last 
His  ou^n  completion.  His  body,  that  through  which  in  con- 
junction with  Himself  all  the  infinite  fullness  of  the  Infi- 
nite God,  is  to  find  through  unending  ages,  a  medium  of 
manifestation,  is  to  be  in  fact  the  new  form  of  God  through 
which  His  wisdom  and  His  love  may  be  known  by  other 
creations  through  the  never  ending  ages. 

This  stupendous  vision  of  the  issue  of  the  Christ  and 
His  work  in  its  individual  application  with  regard  to  trust- 
ing souls,  reveals  how  in  Christ,  man  is  restored  to  God  by 
actual  sharing  of  the  life  Divine.  God  in  Christ  in  a  new 
sense,  shares  human  life.  Man  in  Christ  in  a  new  sense, 
shares  Divine  life.  This  is  the  final  realization  of  the 
Atonement,  and  consists  in  man's  restoration  to  God  on  a 
basis  infinitely  beyond  that  from  which  he  fell  by  his  sin. 

HI.  The  sequence  of  this  vital  restoration  in  the  life  of 
man  is  that  of  a  governmental  restoration.  As  at  the  first, 
man  ruined  himself  by  rebellion,  so  now  his  redemption 
being  accomplished  by  the  operation  of  God  in  Christ, 
within  the  realm  of  law  and  of  justice  he  must  abide  in  the 
will  of  God.  This  is  not  an  arbitrary  and  capricious 
requirement.  It  is  rather,  as  the  whole  history  of  man  in 
his  ruin  demonstrates,  a  necessity  upon  the  fulfillment  of 
which  love  must  insist,  or  cease  to  be  love.     Outside  the 


426  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

realm  of  the  Divine  will,  man  is  in  the  place  of  ruin  and  of 
death.  Within  that  will,  he  is  in  the  sphere  of  permanence 
and  of  perfection. 

Now  however  it  is  possible  to  refer  to  abiding  in  the  will 
of  God  in  new  terms,  which  are  the  terms  of  a  plenteous 
redemption.  To  abide  in  that  will  is  to  abide  in  Christ. 
The  restoration  of  man  to  God  in  Christ  being,  as  has 
been  shown,  vital  as  well  as  judicial,  it  is  therefore  govern- 
mental also,  in  a  way  which  reveals  the  infinite  love  and 
wisdom  of  God,  as  perhaps  it  is  nowhere  else  revealed,  be- 
cause it  appeals  to  man  at  the  point  of  his  supreme  con- 
sciousness of  weakness.  The  God-man  is  the  meeting 
place  between  God  and  man.  Rejecting  man,  God  en- 
throned Jesus.  Rejecting  himself,  man  enthrones  Jesus. 
Thus  the  Divine  and  the  human  will  move  into  union  of 
decision  and  purpose.  God  and  man  meet  in  Christ. 
Upon  this  basis,  the  Spirit  communicates  the  life  which 
creates  vital  relationship,  and  that  life  henceforth  becomes 
the  directing,  controlling,  suggesting  principle  in  the  life 
of  the  saint.  Moving  along  the  line  of  the  perfect 
will  of  God,  as  it  ever  has  and  ever  must,  it  regu- 
lates all  the  life  of  the  saint,  within  the  government  of 
God,  "  casting  down  reasonings,  and  every  high  thing  that 
is  exalted  against  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  bringing 
every  thought  into  captivity  to  the  obedience  of 
Christ." '  It  is  because  of  this  that  the  Christian  is  no 
longer  under  the  law,  which  consists  in  commandments 
outside  the  personality.  He  in  Christ,  answers  the  law  of 
the  Spirit  of  life,  which  is  at  once  a  perpetual  illumination, 
and  a  constant  power.  God  in  Christ  by  the  Spirit  works 
in  "  to  will  and  to  work,  for  His  good  pleasure."  ^ 

It  was  in  view  of  this  great  truth  the  apostle  declared 

'  2  Cor.  10  :  5  (margin),  *  Phil.  2  :  13. 


Man  Restored  to  God  by  Christ  427 

"  for  if,  while  we  were  enemies,  we  were  reconciled  to  God 
through  the  death  of  His  Son,  much  more,  being  reconciled, 
shall  we  be  kept  safe  in  His  life."  ^  Thus  plenteously  in- 
deed, even  in  superabounding  fullness,  does  Christ  answer 
the  call  of  man  distanced  by  sin,  in  restoring  him  to  God. 
In  Christ,  man  is  restored  judicially,  and  there  is  no  con- 
demnation ;  vitally,  and  there  is  no  separation ;  govern- 
mentally,  and  there  is  no  alienation. 

^  Rom.  5  :  10.     Bishop  Handley  Moule's  translation. 


XXXII 

MAN  KNOWING  GOD  THROUGH  CHRIST 

The  restoration  of  man  to  God  necessarily  issues  in  the 
restoration  to  man  of  the  knowledge  of  God.  The  orig- 
inal purpose  of  man's  creation  was  that  he  should  be  a  be- 
ing capable  of  the  consciousness  of,  and  in  communion,  and 
cooperation  with,  God  Himself.  To  all  this  he  is  restored 
in  Christ,  As  the  vital  union  between  God  and  man  is 
created  and  maintained  by  the  Spirit,  so  also  is  the  work  of 
revealing  God  to  man  that  of  the  Spirit.  He  "  the  Spirit 
searcheth  all  things,  yea,  the  deep  things  of  God ; "  and 
these 

"  Things  which  eye  saw  not,  and  ear  heard  not. 
And  which  entered  not  into  the  heart  of  man, 
Whatsoever  things  God  prepared  for  them  that  love  Him ; " 

that  is,  the  things  of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ,  which  man 
in  clouded  intelligence  was  ignorant  of,  "  unto  us  God  re- 
vealed them  through  the  Spirit."  ^  Thus  while  in  Christ 
God  has  provided  Himself  with  a  Medium  of  Self-revela- 
tion, Christ  is  revealed  to  man  by  the  Spirit,  This  scheme 
of  revelation  must  be  understood,  if  there  is  to  be  a  true 
appreciation  of  the  revelation  itself.  The  whole  perfect 
system  is  revealed  in  the  last  discourses  of  Jesus  with  His 
disciples,  prior  to  His  Passion.  When  Philip,  speaking  in 
larger  degree  as  the  mouthpiece  of  fallen  humanity  than  he 
knew,  said  to  Jesus  "  Show  us  the  Father,  and  it  sufficeth 
us,"  ^  there  was  neither  doubt  nor  uncertainty  in  the  Lord's 
'  I  Cor.  2 :  9,  lo.  *  John  14  :  8. 

428 


Man  Knowing  God  Through  Christ      429 

reply.  He  distinctly  declared,  "  He  that  hath  seen  Me, 
hath  seen  the  Father."  ^ 

This  declaration  is  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  inspired 
statement  of  John  that  "no  man  hath  seen  God  at  any 
time ;  the  only  begotten  Son,  Who  is  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Father,  He  hath  declared  Him."^  There  is  no  way  by 
which  man  can  know  God  save  through  Christ.  All  at- 
tempts on  the  part  of  man,  to  formulate  a  conception  of 
God,  or  declare  a  doctrine  concerning  Him,  are  futile,  save 
as  conception  and  doctrine  are  based  upon,  and  perpetually 
true  to,  the  Revelation  He  has  made  of  Himself  in  Christ. 

Recognizing  man's  inability  to  know  God  apart  from 
Himself,  the  Lord  also  recognizes  that  men  were  unable  to 
understand  the  revelation  of  God  in  Himself,  save  as  it 
should  be  explained  by  that  Spirit  Who  "  searcheth  all 
things,  yea,  the  deep  things  of  God."  ^  He  therefore  im- 
mediately followed  Philip's  question  with  the  promise  of  the 
Spirit,  and  such  teaching  concerning  Him,  as  should  fit  the 
disciples  for  His  coming  and  work.  From  the  body  of  that 
final  teaching,  three  main  statements  will  be  sufficient,  as 
giving  the  teaching  of  Christ  under  this  head. 

1.  "  The  Holy  Spirit — He  shall  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring 

to  your  remembrance  all  that  I  said  unto  you."* 

2.  "  The   Spirit   of   truth — He   shall   bear  witness  of  Me." » 

3.  "  The  Spirit  of  truth— He  shall  glorify  Me  :  for  He  shall 

take  of  Mine,  and  shall  declare  it  unto  you."  ^ 

These  words  clearly  demonstrate  two  things.  First,  that 
the  work  of  the  Spirit  is  essentially  that  of  revealing  Christ 
to  those  in  whom  He  has  taken  up  His  abode ;  and  sec- 
ondly, that  man  can  only  know  Christ  through  the  Spirit's 
illumination,  as  man  can  only  know  God  through  Christ's 


1  John  14  :  9. 

sjohn  I:  l8. 

3  I  Cor.  2 :  10. 

*John  14:  26. 

*John  15  :  26. 

6  John  16:  13,  14. 

430  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

revelation.  Any  Christology  which  is  not  the  direct  issue 
of  the  Spirit's  teaching,  is  false;  for  the  mystery  of  His 
Person,  and  the  meaning  of  His  work,  are  alike  inscrutable 
to  the  mind  of  man  In  its  darkened  condition,  and  can  only 
be  apprehended  as  the  light  of  God  falls  upon  them. 
Through  Christ,  the  Spirit  of  truth  indwells  the  believer, 
and  through  the  Spirit  of  truth  therefore  Christ  becomes 
the  indwelling  One ;  and  as  He  by  the  Spirit  is  made 
known  to  man,  man  is  restored  to  the  knowledge  of  God, 
which  he  had  lost  through  sin. 

Man's  knowledge  of  God  through  Christ  by  the  Spirit 
may  be  contemplated  therefore  by  considering  ;  first,  the 
unveiling  of  Christ  by  the  Spirit;  second,  the  apprehension 
of  Christ  through  the  Spirit ;  third,  the  consequent  knowl- 
edge of  God. 

I.  The  Spirit's  revelation  of  the  Christ  has  been  indi- 
vidual and  historic.  He  commenced  His  work  with  indi- 
viduals, and  then  for  the  sake  of  the  generations  to  come, 
proceeded,  in  cooperation  with  such  individuals,  to  prepare 
for  the  future.  By  personal  revelation  of  Christ  to  indi- 
viduals. He  prepared  men  for  the  creation  of  a  written 
record  concerning  Christ.  He  then  through  men  thus  pre- 
pared became  the  Author  of  the  new  record.  That  record 
being  completed.  He  has  given  an  exposition  of  it  through 
the  centuries,  in  constant  cooperation  with  men.  The 
Spirit  commenced  His  work  when  upon  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost He  baptized  the  company  of  waiting  souls  into  new 
union  with  God  in  Christ.  In  tracing  His  work  therefore, 
it  is  necessary  to  begin  with  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  while 
of  course  in  a  study  of  His  revelation,  the  structure  of  the 
New  Testament  is  the  true  order.  In  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  the  Spirit  is  seen  communicating  life  to  individual 


Man  Knowing  God  Through  Christ      431 

men,  and  then  directing  them  definitely  and  immediately  in 
all  the  affairs  of  their  life.  One  of  the  special  notes  of 
the  narrative  of  the  early  Church  is  that  of  how  men  were 
specifically  led  by  the  Spirit,  and  yet,  it  is  always  to  be  ob- 
served that  their  action  under  His  guidance,  is  that  of  loy- 
alty to  Christ.  The  Spirit  hinders,  or  impulses,  but  they 
are  restrained  when  He  hinders,  or  go  forward  when  He 
impulses,  as  loyal  to  Christ.  Thus  it  is  evident  that  while 
these  men  were  conscious  of  the  immediate  interference  of 
the  Spirit,  they  recognized  that  that  interference  was  an  in- 
terpretation to  them  of  the  will  of  their  crowned  Lord. 

Eventually,  for  the  consolidation  of  the  Church  in  its 
relation  to  Christ,  and  for  the  continuity  of  its  conscious- 
ness of  Christ,  it  was  necessary  that  such  record  of  Him 
as  a  Person  in  history,  as  should  form  a  perpetual  basis  for 
the  Spirit's  interpretation,  should  be  written.  Out  of  this 
necessity  came  what  are  known  now  as  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures.  In  these  writings  the  Spirit's  one  subject  is 
Christ.  In  the  Gospels  there  are  recorded  such  facts  con- 
cerning His  Person  and  teaching,  as  are  necessary.  In 
them  He  is  seen  very  largely  in  splendid  loneliness,  sepa- 
rated from,  while  yet  in  the  midst  of  men ;  glorious  in  true 
Kingliness,  as  Matthew's  story  shows ;  patient  in  unceas- 
ing service,  as  Mark's  record  reveals ;  supreme  in  the  real- 
ization of  the  Divine  ideal  of  humanity,  as  Luke's  evangel 
demonstrates ;  anJ  mysterious  in  the  essential  majesty  of 
Deity,  as  John's  writings  declare. 

Then  follows  that  treatise  in  which  Christ  is  manifest  in 
new  union  with  men,  continuing  the  work  commenced  in 
loneliness,  in  cooperation  with  such  as  are  united  to  Him 
by  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  record  has  to  do  almost  exclu- 
sively with  Christ  as  He  calls  outsiders  to  Himself  for  the 
remission  of  sins,  for  the  renewal  of  life,  for  the  restoration 


432  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

of  the  lost  order.  Passing  from  this  the  Spirit  in  the  great 
didactic  writings  reveals  Christ  as  realized  in  the  believer, 
and  as  expressing  Himself  through  the  Church.  While  in 
the  Acts  He  is  almost  exclusively  seen  calling  the  outsider, 
in  the  epistles  He  is  seen  again  almost  exclusively  in  His 
relation  to  those  who  have  come  in  obedience  to  His  call. 
Then  in  the  Apocalypse,  to  a  man  who  is  "in  the  Spirit,"^ 
there  is  granted  Christ's  own  vision  of  His  coming  victory, 
and  the  consummation  of  all  the  purposes  of  God  concern- 
ing men,  realized  in  Christ. 

At  this  point  the  writings  being  complete,  the  Spirit  did 
not  cease  His  work,  but  rather  commenced  it,  in  all  its 
fullness  and  beauty.  Through  the  centuries  of  the  Chris- 
tian era,  there  may  be  traced  an  ever-broadening  and  deep- 
ening apprehension  of  Christ,  due  invariably  to  the  Spirit's 
revelation  to  the  Church  of  Christ,  a  revelation  constantly 
proceeding  in  harmony  with  the  inspired  Writings,  so  that 
nothing  has  been  revealed  in  addition  to  the  facts  recorded 
therein,  while  yet  in  an  ever-enlarging  understanding  of 
their  meaning,  there  has  come  this  ever-increasing  appre- 
ciation of  the  Christ. 

It  may  safely  be  affirmed  that  the  Person  and  work  of 
Jesus  are  more  perfectly  understood  than  they  have  ever 
been,  and  that  He,  by  the  Spirit,  is  demanding  and  receiv- 
ing a  larger  and  profounder  loyalty,  than  has  ever  been  the 
case  before.  This  statement  is  made  with  a  very  keen  rec- 
ognition of  the  fact  that  the  conflict  which  has  been  going 
forward  in  the  outworks  of  the  Christian  revelation,  is 
gathering  around  the  central  citadel  of  the  Person  of  Christ. 
In  view  and  in  presence  of  that  conflict,  there  is  no  fear  in 
the  heart  of  such  as  are  conscious  of  the  continued  pres- 
ence and  work  of  the  Spirit.  The  issue  must  be  a  new 
1  Rev.  I  :  lo. 


Man  Knowing  God  Through  Christ     433 

vindication  of  the  Personality  of  the  God-man,  and  a  new 
appreciation  of  that  concerning  Him  which  will  ever  be 
beyond  the  possibility  of  formulated  statement  on  the  part 
of  man. 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  the  Holy  Spirit  of  truth,  through 
processes  of  infinite  patience,  whether  it  be  to  the  indi- 
vidual, or  in  the  history  of  the  race,  continues  His  sacred 
work  of  revealing  Christ,  interpreting  His  Word,  and  ad- 
ministering His  work. 

n.  Leaving  the  subject  now  in  its  historic  setting,  it 
will  be  well  to  consider  somewhat  more  carefully  the  ap- 
prehension of  Christ  through  the  Spirit  by  the  individual. 
The  first  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God  towards  this  end,  is  that 
of  the  preparation  of  the  spirit  of  man.  That  spirit  orig- 
inally created  as  a  medium  for  the  knowledge  of  God,  was 
polluted,  and  disorganized  by  sin,  and  therefore  became 
useless  for  the  fulfillment  of  its  original  intention.  By  the 
impartation  of  Christ  to  the  spirit  of  man,  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
God  cleanses  from  pollution.  By  uniting  the  spirit  of  man 
with  Christ  He  readjusts  the  instrument,  and  by  lifting  man 
into  the  place  where  he  looks  out  upon  all  things  in  fellow- 
ship with  Christ,  He  focusses  the  lens,  that  so  the  pictures 
may  no  longer  be  distorted,  blurred,  and  inaccurate,  but  defi- 
nite, clear,  and  precise.  This  preliminary  work  of  the 
Spirit  is  most  immediate  and  most  gracious.  And  yet  its 
value  is  only  known  in  the  results  which  follow. 

Man's  experience  of  this  work  is  not  in  a  new  self-con- 
sciousness, even  though  it  be  that  of  purity  and  illumina- 
tion. It  is  rather  an  experience  of  the  issue,  that  namely 
of  a  new  apprehension  of  Christ,  and  consequently  a  new 
knowledge  of  God. 

Then  follows  necessarily  the  work  of  the  Spirit  in  pre- 


434  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

senting  the  Object  to  this  restored  instrument.  That 
Object  is  Christ.  The  method  of  the  Spirit  here  is  always 
governed  by  the  individual  necessity  of  the  believer,  and  by 
capacity.  It  may  be  safely  affirmed  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
has  no  stereotyped  system  of  theology  to  teach  men.  The 
great  facts  concerning  Christ  are  never  taught  by  the  Spirit 
to  companies  of  men,  but  to  individual  lives,  and  the 
lesson  now  being  learned  by  any  single  person,  is  the  one 
necessary  for  the  growth  of  that  particular  individual.  To 
some  to-day  He  will  reveal  the  Master's  sympathy,  to 
others  His  severity ;  and  so,  according  to  the  necessity  of 
each,  will  He  minister  the  revelation  of  the  living  Lord. 

It  is  equally  true  that  He  does  not  measure  His  teaching 
by  the  standards  of  time,  but  by  the  capacity  of  the  dis- 
ciple, revealing  only  that  which  each  is  able  to  bear.  His 
method  is  moreover  perpetually  characterized  by  the  fact 
that  every  individual  revelation  of  Christ  to  the  spirit  of  the 
disciple  has  within  it  some  new  claim,  demanding  immedi- 
ate obedience,  and  the  measure  of  the  obedience  is  the 
measure  of  an  increased  capacity  for  yet  new  revelations. 

Thus  man,  indwelt  by  the  Spirit,  is  the  subject  of  a 
perpetually  growing  consciousness  of  the  sublimities  of 
Christ,  through  a  perpetually  growing  understanding  of  His 
simplicities.  Thus  it  is  that  while  the  youngest  believer 
may  seem  to  be  in  possession  of  all  the  facts  concerning 
Christ ;  as  the  years  pass,  through  the  varied  disciplines  of 
life,  and  the  operation  of  an  abiding  communion,  it  is  seen 
that  the  things  known  were  hardly  known,  that  the  facts 
recognized  were  imperfectly  realized  ;  and  gradually  and 
yet  surely  with  the  passing  of  the  years,  through  every 
window,  new  light  is  streaming,  and  new  meanings  are 
dawning  on  the  soul.  In  the  earliest  years  of  discipleship 
there  must  be  recognition  of  the  simplicity  of  Christ,  as  the 


Man  Knowing  God  Through  Christ      435 

story  of  His  life  is  read ;  of  His  perpetual  serenity  as  He 
passed  through  scenes  that  might  have  been  expected  to 
disturb  the  stoutest  heart ;  of  the  sweetness  of  His  disposi- 
tion, in  spite  of  all  the  occasions  which  so  often  end  in  the 
embittering  of  the  human  heart ;  of  the  severity  of  His 
Spirit  against  all  forms  of  wrong  and  of  tyranny  ;  and  of 
His  ever  active  sympathy  with  all  sorts  and  conditions  of 
men.  All  these  things,  however,  are  only  learned  as  to 
their  fullness  of  value,  and  of  meaning,  as  the  Spirit  reveals 
them  according  to  the  demand  of  occasion,  and  the  capacity 
of  the  learner.  Through  this  great  process  it  is  discovered 
that  the  simplicity  of  Christ  is  due  to  His  sublimity  of  the 
consciousness  of  the  straightness  of  the  line  of  truth ;  and 
His  serenity  is  due  to  the  abiding  sense  of  the  permanence 
of  righteousness  ;  and  His  sweetness  manifest  because  of 
His  understanding  of  the  ultimate  victory  of  love ;  while 
His  severity  is  the  necessary  out-flaming  anger  of  that  love 
against  all  that  for  the  time  may  seem  to  violate  it ;  and 
His  sympathy  is  the  natural,  spontaneous  relation  of  essen- 
tial love  to  all  the  consciousness  of  those  upon  whom  such 
love  is  set. 

Thus  the  issue  of  the  indwelling  Spirit  is  not  merely  the 
unveiling  before  the  spirit  of  man  of  the  fact  of  Christ ; 
but  also  the  preparation  of  the  spirit  of  man,  which  issues 
in  a  true  and  ever  growing  apprehension  of  the  unveiled 
One. 

in.  Thus  God  is  known  to  man,  and  that  after  the 
method  of  the  original  Divine  intention  through  a  Man 
Who  is  His  express  Image.  Redeemed  man  acts  upon  the 
same  principle  as  fallen  man  in  his  search  after  God,  with 
a  distinction  and  a  difFerence  both  in  method  and  in  result. 
Man's  darkened  understanding  still  conscious  of  his  need 


436  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

of  a  god,  projected  into  immensity  himself,  with  the  result 
that  his  conception  of  God  was  that  of  a  monster,  because 
not  only  were  the  essentials  of  his  nature,  intelligence, 
emotion,  and  will,  magnified  in  the  process,  but  their  degra- 
dation. Restored  to  God,  man  still  projects  Man  into  in- 
finity, but  not  himself.  It  is  now  by  the  magnifying  of 
the  Man  Christ  Jesus,  Who  by  the  Spirit  indwells  the  be- 
liever, that  God  is  found.  The  intelligence  of  Jesus,  char- 
acterized by  clearness,  freedom  from  questioning,  and 
unanswerable  statement  of  truth,  surprises  and  startles  the 
soul  anew  in  every  fresh  understanding  of  it  through  the 
Spirit's  interpretation.  And  as  these  lines  are  projected 
from  the  wisdom  of  Christ  into  infinity,  the  mind  catches 
some  conception  of  what  the  wisdom  of  the  infinite  God 
is  in  its  perfectly  clear  understanding  of  all  things,  so  that 
"in  Him  is  no  darkness  at  all."  '  His  freedom  from  per- 
plexity carried  out  into  the  immeasurable,  aids  man  in  his 
apprehension  of  that  great  reason  for  the  quiet  calm  of 
Deity,  in  the  midst  of  the  things  which,  coming  of  their 
imperfect  understanding,  so  trouble  and  vex  the  heart  of 
the  finite.  Every  century  of  consideration  of  the  Word 
of  Jesus  proving  as  it  has,  that  His  teaching  was  not  a  de- 
duction from  appearances,  but  the  uttering  forth  of  eternal 
principles  in  the  speech  of  man,  has  given  to  men  a  new 
conception  of  the  authority  of  God,  as  based  upon  the 
necessity  of  the  things  that  are. 

Perhaps  the  supreme  consciousness  of  God,  however,  has 
come  by  the  projection  into  immensity  of  what  may  still 
be  spoken  of  as  the  emotional  fact  in  the  Person  of  Jesus. 
In  Him  love  proceeded  out  of  the  necessity  of  its  own 
might,  and  expressed  itself  in  self-forgetfulness  to  the  point 
of  absolute  sacrifice,  and  that  without  regard  to  any  worth 
'  I  John  1  :  5. 


Man  Knowing  God  Through  Christ      437 

in  the  object  upon  which  it  was  set.  In  Him  moreover, 
love  was  patient,  optimistic,  powerful.  No  lack  of  re- 
sponse was  sufficient  to  quench  its  ardour,  no  degradation 
sufficient  to  extinguish  its  hopefulness,  no  opposition  equal 
to  overcome  its  might.  It  was  this  revelation  of  His  love 
that  made  it  possible  for  there  ever  to  have  been  written 
the  statement,  so  simple  and  sublime,  so  sweet  in  its  con- 
straint, so  manifold  in  its  beauty,  that  heaven's  music  will 
be  needed  to  express  its  harmonies,  while  earth's  discords 
are  by  it  being  changed  towards  the  heavenly  symphony, 
"  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten 
Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  Him  should  not  perish, 
but  have  eternal  life."  '  It  was  surely  with  his  eye  resting 
upon  the  Man  of  Nazareth,  and  his  heart  speaking  of  his 
consciousness  of  the  marvel  of  the  love  of  the  Perfect 
One,  that  Paul  wrote  his  classic  passage  descriptive  of 
love.^ 

And  yet  again,  the  action  of  the  will  of  Jesus  as  respon- 
sive ever  to  the  supreme  will  of  His  Father,  and  moving 
always  under  the  impulse  of  love,  has  revealed  forever- 
more  the  truth  of  unutterable  value,  that  the  will  of  God 
operates  not  arbitrarily,  but  under  constraint,  the  constraint 
of  the  essential  fact  of  His  own  nature,  that  of  an  infinite 
and  immeasurable  love. 

Thus  Jesus  the  perfect  Man,  standing  before  the  soul  in 
all  His  perfection,  is  the  gateway  through  which  the  mind 
passes  out  to  a  conception  of  God  which  arrests,  subdues, 
and  commands  the  loyalty  of  the  life.  It  is  in  His  pres- 
ence that  man  exclaims  *'  Lo,  this  is  our  God ;  we  have 
waited  for  Him,  and  He  will  save  us :  this  is  Jehovah ;  we 
have  waited  for  Him,  we  will  be  glad  and  rejoice  in  His 
salvation." ' 

"  John  3  :  16.  '  i  Cor,  13.  3  jsa.  25  :  g. 


438  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

To  say  this  is  to  declare  also  the  difference  in  result. 
Man  of  old,  projecting  himself  until  he  found  an  enormity, 
learned  only  to  hate  and  to  fear  his  conception  of  God. 
To-day,  man,  projecting  the  perfect  One  finds  infinite 
satisfaction  in  the  revealed  Father,  and  his  heart  goes  out 
in  adoring  love,  and  his  life  is  spent  in  glad  service.  Thus 
in  Christ,  man  is  restored  to  the  knowledge  of  God  by  the 
enlightening  of  his  intelligence,  and  the  presentation 
thereto  of  all  the  gracious  facts,  in  such  way,  and  in  such 
measure  as  he  is  able  to  bear,  and  capable  of  receiving. 


XXXIII 

MAN  LIKE  GOD  IN  CHRIST 

The  final  fact  in  redemption  is  that  of  the  restoration 
of  man  to  the  image  and  likeness  of  God.  Underlying 
every  creation  of  God  is  a  most  definite  purpose.  This  it 
may  not  always  be  easy  to  trace,  but  the  general  principle 
is  most  certainly  revealed  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases,  and 
therefore  it  is  reasonable  to  believe  it  to  be  universal,  and 
the  fact  that  it  is  beyond  the  power  of  human  intelligence 
always  to  discover  the  reason,  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the 
limitation  of  that  intelligence,  rather  than  by  the  absence 
of  the  purpose.  The  purpose  of  angelic  life  is  certainly 
that  of  service.  In  the  great  Psalm  of  thanksgiving,  angels 
are  referred  to  in  such  a  way  as  to  declare  the  very  mean- 
ing of  their  existence  : — 

"  Bless  Jehovah,  ye  His  angels, 
That  are  mighty  in  strength,  that  fulfill  His  word, 
Hearkening  unto  the  voice  of  His  word,"  ^ 

and  the  writer  of  the  letter  to  the  Hebrews  asks,  "  Are  they 
not  all  ministering  spirits,  sent  forth  to  do  service  for  the 
sake  of  them  that  shall  inherit  salvation  ?  "  ^  while  all  the 
sacred  history  reveals  them  as  occupied  ever  in  serving  in 
gladness  the  will  of  the  King. 

The  purpose  underlying  the  creation  of  man  was  far  sub- 

limer.     He  was  made  in  the  Divine  image,  in  a  sense  that 

angels  never  were,  and  in  the  very  nature  of  that  creation 

there   is    revealed    its    purpose.     Man  was   intended  as  a 

'  Psa.  103  :  20.  2  Heb.  i:    14. 

439 


440  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

medium  for  the  Divine  manifestation,  one  through  whom, 
because  of  his  likeness  to  God,  it  would  be  possible  for 
God  to  express  Himself  to  other  creations  more  perfectly. 
Redemption  therefore  is  only  complete  when  man  is  re- 
stored to  the  perfection  of  his  own  being,  and  thus  to  fit- 
ness for  the  fulfillment  of  the  Divine  purpose.  This  then 
is  the  ultimate  issue  of  the  work  of  Christ  in  man.  For 
the  accomplishment  of  this,  vital  restoration  is  the  power, 
and  restoration  to  knowledge  is  the  process.  The  life  of 
Christ  imparted  to  man  by  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  constrain- 
ing, transforming  power,  and  the  new  vision  of  God  in 
Christ  is  at  once  the  pattern,  towards  the  carrying  out  of 
which  the  power  works,  and  therefore  the  governing  prin- 
ciple to  which  the  will  of  the  saint  being  submitted,  the 
Christ  life  is  the  product.  The  first  fact  in  redemption, 
that  of  restoration  to  God,  was  perfected  in  justification  ; 
the  second,  that  of  restoration  to  the  knowledge  of  God,  is 
being  perfected  through  sanctification  ;  the  third,  that  of 
restoration  to  the  likeness  of  God,  will  be  perfected  in 
glorification.  Redemption  is  thus  seen  to  be  the  restora- 
tion of  man  to  fellowship  with  the  Father.  John,  who 
writes  most  minutely  of  the  great  subject  under  this  aspect, 
affirms  that  as  to  standing,  that  fellowship  is  accomplished. 
"  Now  are  we  children  of  God,"  that  as  to  finality  it  will 
be  accomplished,  "  we  know  that,  if  He  shall  be  mani- 
fested, we  shall  be  like  Him ;  "  that  as  to  process  the  work 
goes  ever  forward,  "  every  one  that  hath  this  hope  set  on 
Him  purifieth  himself,  even  as  He  is  pure."  '  The  founda- 
tion fact  is  created  by  the  reception  of  the  Christ  life  in 
germ,  the  experimental  advancement  is  being  caused  by 
the  mastery  of  the  whole  being  by  that  ever-conquering 
life  ;  the  final  fact  will  be  consummated  by  the  complete 
>  I  John  3:2,3. 


Man  Like  God  in  Christ  441 

comformity  of  the  whole  life  to  the  Christ.  Therefore  as 
Christ  is  the  express  Image  of  the  Father,  in  perfect  like- 
ness to  Him,  man  will  fulfill  the  primal  Divine  purpose, 
by  becoming  restored  to  the  image  and  the  likeness  of  God. 
Thus  it  is  evident  at  once  that  the  present  life  is,  by  com- 
parison with  the  life  to  come,  as  utterly  insignificant,  as  the 
days  of  school  are,  when  compared  with  the  sternness  and 
importance  of  the  days  for  which  they  are  but  preparatory. 
And  yet  this  view  of  the  finality,  in  another  sense,  lends 
new  meaning  and  urgency  to  the  life  that  now  is;  for 
school-days  very  largely  determine  the  place  to  be  occupied 
in  the  maturer  opportunities  of  life. 

In  considering  this  last  phase  of  the  plenteous  redemp- 
tion, difficulties  confront  the  mind,  which  it  is  better  at 
once  to  recognize,  as  John  did  when  he  wrote,  "  It  is  not 
yet  made  manifest  what  we  shall  be."  ^  It  will  be  per- 
fectly safe,  however,  to  accept  the  certainty  as  declared  by 
John,  "  We  know  .  .  .  we  shall  be  like  Him,"  and 
within  that  assurance,  consider  first,  man  becoming  like 
God  in  his  realization  of  the  character  and  conduct  of 
Christ ;  second,  man  becoming  like  God  in  his  realization 
of  himself;  third,  man  becoming  like  God,  becomes  a 
revelation  of  God. 

I.  There  is  no  necessity  to  deal  with  the  close  relation 
existing  between  character  and  conduct,  save  to  declare  the 
fact  as  necessary  to  an  understanding  of  the  line  of  the 
present  study.  It  must,  however,  be  borne  in  mind  that 
they  are  necessarily  and  indissolubly  connected.  Conduct 
is  always  an  expression  of  character,  and  character  there- 
fore is  the  cause  of  conduct.  Character  is  the  condition  of 
being,  while  conduct  is  the  expression  thereof  in  doing.    In 

*  I  John  3 :  2. 


442  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

both  these,  Christ  was  the  Revelation  of  God,  and  in  pro- 
portion as  man  is  Christlike,  he  is  therefore  like  God. 
Zacharias,  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  referring  to  the  com- 
ing of  Messiah,  declared  that  the  purpose  of  His  coming 
was  that  man  should  serve  God  "in  holiness  and  righteous- 
ness." ^  These  words  cover  the  whole  fact  of  life  as  to  its 
general  trend,  holiness  referring  to  character,  and  righteous- 
ness to  conduct.  It  is  at  once  seen  that  these  words  belong 
primarily  to  God,  the  first  declaring  the  supreme  truth  con- 
cerning His  character,  and  the  latter  that  concerning  His 
conduct.  He  is  holy,  and  therefore  acts  righteously.  Both 
these  facts  are  however  the  result  of  another  and  profounder 
one,  that  namely,  of  the  love  which  is  of  the  very  essence 
of  His  Being.  Holiness  of  character  is  the  result  of  the 
nature  of  love,  and  so  also  is  righteousness  of  conduct. 
In  Christ  these  facts  concerning  God  have  been  revealed, 
and  always  in  this  setting  and  proportion.  The  holiness 
of  the  character  of  Christ  was  the  inevitable  necessity  of 
His  Love.  His  righteousness  of  conduct  was  the  imme- 
diate outworking  of  His  holiness  of  character,  which  re- 
sulted from  Love.  By  the  impartation  of  His  life  to  man, 
and  its  realization  progressively,  man  is  subdued  by  Love, 
and  obedience  to  this  new  nature  issues  in  holiness  of  char- 
acter, and  righteousness  of  conduct. 

The  finality  of  all  this  is  that  man's  essential  nature 
being  transformed  into  perfect  conformity  to  that  of  God, 
his  holiness  of  character  will  be  forever  established,  and  he 
will  then  be  perfectly  prepared  for  all  that  exercise  of  life, 
which  expresses  itself  in  righteousness  of  conduct,  which  is 
always  that  of  cooperation  with  God.  Here  the  point  of 
difficulty  is  reached,  because  it  is  impossible  to  know  to-day 
along  what  line  the  activities  of  God  will  be  continued,  in 
'  Luke  I  :  75. 


Man  Like  God  in  Christ  443 

the  ages  lying  ahead.  There  are  certain  principles  how- 
ever which  may  contribute  at  least  to  a  lofty  conception  of 
what  the  activity  of  redeemed  man  will  be.  The  question 
of  character  need  not  therefore  be  discussed  because  con- 
duct is  its  outward  expression.  It  may  therefore  be 
affirmed  that  as  the  activity  of  God  is  constructive,  and 
never  destructive,  man  in  union  with  Him  will  cooperate  in 
the  expression  of  the  Infinite  Energy,  along  the  pathway  of 
perpetually  perennial  manifestations  of  that  essential  Love, 
which  is  fullness  of  joy,  and  pleasure  forevermore. 

For  to-day  man's  likeness  to  God,  in  likeness  to  Christ, 
is  manifest  in  his  approximation  to  the  character  of  holiness, 
and  his  cooperation  in  the  work  of  redemption.  Said 
Jesus,  "My  Father  worketh  even  until  now,  and  I  work."  ^ 
The  work  of  God  and  the  work  of  Christ  are  identical, 
and  the  proportion  in  which  man  is  already  like  God,  is 
manifest  by  his  cooperation  with  Him  in  the  sublime  and 
serious  enterprises  of  seeking  and  saving  the  lost.  Man  is 
only  equal  to  this  cooperation  upon  the  basis  of  likeness  to 
God  in  character,  and  he  is  only  holy  in  proportion  as  he 
is  indwelt  and  impulsed  by  love. 

II.  This  consideration  demonstrates  without  need  of 
argument  that  man  being  restored  to  the  likeness  of  God 
in  Christ,  is  therefore  restored  to  the  essential  possibility 
and  purpose  of  his  own  being.  Referring  once  again  to 
that  analysis  of  human  personality,  which  was  considered 
in  the  earlier  chapters  of  this  book,  intelligence,  emotion, 
and  will,  it  will  be  seen  how  in  becoming  like  God,  man 
becomes  himself  in  all  the  spaciousness  of  that  primal  in- 
tention. The  intelligence  having  passed  from  underneath 
the  eclipse  which  was  the  result  of  sin,  is  able  to  set  all 

*  John  5 :  17. 


444  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

things  in  their  true  perspective,  and  to  value  them  in  their 
right  proportion.  Not  in  measure  or  degree,  but  in  method 
and  direction,  the  human  intelligence  now  apprehends  with 
the  Infinite  Intelligence.  In  this  realm,  as  in  every  other, 
all  things  have  become  new.  The  new  understanding  of 
God  has  issued  in  a  new  appreciation  of  man  and  of  all 
that  creation  which  is  apparent  to  the  mind,  but  which  is 
now  known  to  be  a  window  through  which  the  Infinite  is 
seen;  and  which,  consequently  is  of  less  value  than  that 
which  it  reveals.  The  feverish  restlessness  resulting  from 
limitation  ceases,  as  the  mind  recognizes  that  beyond  all 
natural  phenomena  there  exists  the  one  Eternal  Verity,  of 
which  all  phenomena  are  but  the  transitory  expressions. 

The  emotional  nature  having  been  freed  from  its  degra- 
dation, now  operates  in  conformity  with  the  Divine  Love. 
Affections  are  set  upon  the  things  above,  the  upper  things, 
the  dominant,  the  eternal.  Every  movement  of  love  is 
henceforth  conditioned  by  the  relation  of  the  object  to 
God,  and  all  its  operation  seeks  the  highest  good  of  the 
loved  one. 

The  will  is  restored  to  its  relation  to  the  true  governing 
principle.  It  does  not  cease  to  be,  and  therefore  its  activity 
is  not  discontinued.  Now  however  instead  of  choosing 
and  deciding  upon  the  false  basis  of  rebellion  against  gov- 
ernment, it  perpetually  elects  to  act  under  the  compulsion 
of  that  Eternal  One,  Whose  essence  is  Love.  Thus  by 
redemption  man  becomes  a  being,  whose  will  decides  in 
answer  to  the  impulse  of  pure  affection,  in  the  light  of  un- 
clouded intelligence.  The  centre  and  throne  of  personality 
being  thus  restored  to  the  true  Divine  order,  all  the  powers 
and  capacities  conditioned  can  be  directed  and  employed  at 
their  highest  and  their  fullest.  The  sense  of  beauty,  ex- 
pressing itself  in   music,  or  in   art,  becomes  dominated  by 


Man  Like  God  in  Christ  445 

that  unswerving  holiness,  which  is  the  character  of  love. 
Wherever  this  is  so,  all  discords  cease,  and  harmonies  are 
perfected  ;  all  that  is  grotesque  and  untrue  is  corrected  by 
the  lines  of  undeviating  loveliness,  and  the  colours  of  un- 
dimmed  beauty.  The  capacity  for  investigation  is  now 
enlarged,  and  science  emerging  from  the  mists  of  mere 
hypotheses,  affirms  with  actual  accuracy  of  statement,  for 
which  she  has  so  long  sought,  and  yet  been  unable  to  dis- 
cover. At  this  point  again  the  understanding  of  all  that 
lies  in  the  future  for  man  is  necessarily  limited,  but  it  may 
surely  be  affirmed  that  "  whatsoever  things  are  true,  what- 
soever things  are  honourable,  whatsoever  things  are  just, 
whatsoever  things  are  pure,  whatsoever  things  are  lovely, 
whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report,"^  in  human  nature 
as  we  know  it,  will  not  be  lost  in  the  hereafter,  but  rather 
found  and  fulfilled  in  all  power  and  perfection. 

The  present  application  of  this  consideration  is  that  even 
to-day  the  measure  of  man's  appropriation  of  the  redemp- 
tion in  Christ  Jesus,  is  the  measure  in  which,  what  he  is  in 
the  essential  of  his  Divinely  created  being,  is  realized  and 
ennobled,  and  through  such  realization  and  ennoblement 
man  is  seen  to  be  Godlike.  The  expression  of  this  like- 
ness here,  as  in  the  former  case,  will  be  found  in  the  conse- 
cration of  man's  own  redeemed  personality  to  such  co- 
operation with  God  as  shall  move  towards  the  future 
perfect  unfolding  of  the  Divine  in  the  human. 

III.  Thus  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus  will 
finally  make  every  individual  a  revelation  of  God,  in  the 
measure  that  is  possible  to  each  individual  capacity.  Here, 
however,  again  there  breaks  upon  the  consciousness  that 
larger  vision  of  the  Divine  purpose  which  consists  in  a  race 
>  Phil.  4  :  8. 


446  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

made  up  of  individuals,  each  one  contributing  something  to 
the  final  perfection,  through  which  race,  all  the  glorious 
fullness  of  the  Deity  is  to  have  its  perfect  outshining. 
This  also  is  according  to  primal  intention.  The  creation 
of  the  first  man  was  the  creation  of  a  race,  and  while  he 
was  in  the  image  of  God,  it  was  in  the  larger  creation  of 
the  whole  family  that  the  supreme  manifestation  of  the 
glory  of  God  was  to  be  made.  This  is  the  true  doctrine 
of  the  solidarity  of  humanity,  and  the  inter-relationship  of 
individuals.  Towards  this,  man  is  ever  attempting  to  grope 
his  way,  and  ever  signally  failing.  Perfect  human  society 
has  never  been  realized  outside  the  economy  of  grace,  be- 
cause perfect  human  individuality  does  not  exist.  In  the 
redemption  of  the  individual,  Christ  prepares  for,  and  makes 
possible,  the  final  realization  of  the  race,  through  which 
the  Divine  glory  will  be  manifested.  The  sublimest  argu- 
ments concerning  this  are  to  be  found  in  the  writings  of 
the  apostle  Paul,  whose  vision  of  the  Church  in  its  con- 
summation was  ever  that  of  a  society  dominated  by  the 
One  Life,  walking  in  the  One  Light,  obeying  the  One 
Love.  The  ultimate  victory  of  redemption  therefore  will 
consist  in  the  realization  of  the  first  Divine  purpose  in  a 
race  which,  being  composed  of  individuals,  each  of  whom 
perfectly  answers  the  Divine  ideal,  will  in  its  entirety  re- 
veal God,  and  thus  be  His  supreme  medium  of  manifesta-  | 
tion  throughout  the  coming  ages.  Christ  will  only  be 
completed  in  that  whole  race  which  united  to  Him,  is  to 
form  His  body. 

Twice  at  least  the  apostle  Paul  uses  the  word  Christ 
with  reference  to  that  whole  race,  including  the  Head  and 
all  the  members.  In  writing  to  the  Corinthians  he  said 
"  for  as  the  body  is  one,  and  hath  many  members,  and  all  the 
members  of  the  body,  being  many,  are  one  body ;  so  also  is 


Man  Like  God  in  Christ  447 

Christ."  ^  Here  evidently  the  reference  is  to  Christ  and 
the  Church,  the  complete  fulfillment  of  the  Divine  thought 
and  purpose. 

And  again,  in  w^riting  to  the  Ephesians,  he  speaks  of 
the  building  up  of  the  body  of  Christ,  "  till  we  all  attain 
unto  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Son  of  God,  unto  a  full-grown  man,  unto  the  measure  of 
the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ."  ^  "  Christ  in  this 
passage  (so  full  of  the  idea  of  the  oneness  in,  and  with  the 
Lord  of  His  mystical  body)  is,  in  effect,  Christ  and  His 
Church.  The  Lord  the  Son  becomes  in  accomplished  fact 
all  that  He  wills,  and  is  willed,  to  be,  only  when  He  is  the 
Head,  of  a  perfected  mystical  Body,  which  lives  by  His 
sacred  life,  and  is  His  incorporate  'limbs,'  His  immortal 
vehicle  of  action,  if  we  may  so  speak.  So  He  and  they 
are  guardedly  and  reverently  spoken  of  here  and  there  as 
One  Christ  with  full  reservation,  from  other  Scriptures,  of 
the  truth  of  the  undying  personality  of  each  individual 
Mimb'  of  the  glorious  Head,  and  of  His  Divine  Person- 
ality." ^  The  specific  purpose  of  this  unity  is  declared  by 
the  apostle  in  the  glorious  doxology  with  which  the  first 
part  of  his  Ephesian  letter  closes.  "  Unto  Him  be  the 
glory  in  the  Church  and  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  all  generations 
forever  and  ever.     Amen."  * 

It  is  not,  however,  sufficient  to  declare  that  redemption's 
final  victory  is  that  of  the  realization  of  this  primal  Divine 
intention.  While  that  is  true,  it  must  not  be  lost  sight  of 
that  the  peculiar  and  marvellous  plan  of  the  victory  lies  in  the 
future,  that  this  result  is  produced  by  Christ  through  victory 
gained  over  the  original  failure.  The  glory  of  the  first  ideal 
was  great,  but  the  glory  of  the  realization  of  that  ideal,  out  of 

'  I  Cor.  12  :  12.  2  Eph^  4  .  j^. 

3  Bishop  Handley  Moule.  *  Eph.  3 :  21. 


448  The  Crises  of  the  Christ 

all  the  awful  results  of  human  sin,  is  infinitely  greater. 
Perhaps  the  note  that  now  wakes  the  profoundest  wonder 
in  the  mind  of  unfallen  intelligences  concerning  the  issue 
of  redemption  is  that  suggested  when  in  speaking  of  the 
glories  of  Christ  in  his  Colossian  epistle,  the  apostle  refers 
to  Him  as  "  the  First-born  from  the  dead."  ^  As  to  all 
creation  Christ  is  the  First-born,  but  the  added  wonder  with 
regard  to  the  new  creation  is  that  it  has  been  created  by  the 
emergence  of  the  last  Adam  from  the  death  which  resulted 
from  the  failure  of  the  first  Adam,  and  His  having  brought 
out  of  that  death,  members  of  the  new  race.  Thus  redemp- 
tion's greatest  victory  lies,  not  merely  in  the  fact  that 
through  the  new  race  the  glory  of  God  is  to  be  manifest, 
but  that  the  profounder  truth  will  be  revealed  that  His 
greatest  glory  lies  in  the  mighty  working  of  His  wondrous 
grace.  The  sublimest  and  profoundest  song  of  all  will  be 
that  ascription  of  praise,  which  occurring  in  the  first  chapter 
of  the  Apocalypse,  prepares  for,  and  includes  within  itself 
all  the  subsequent  numbers  of  that  majestic  oratorio,  the 
subject  of  which  is  the  movement  to  finality  of  the  dispen- 
sations of  God.  "  Unto  Him  that  loveth  us,  and  loosed 
us  from  our  sins  by  His  blood;  and  He  made  us  to  be  a 
kingdom,  to  be  priests  unto  His  God  and  Father;  to  Him 
be  the  glory  and  the  dominion  forever  and  ever.     Amen."  ^ 

iCol,  i:  18.  2  Rev.  1:5,6. 


Man  Like  God  in  Christ  449 


«*  Crown  Him  with  many  crowns, 

The  Lamb  upon  His  throne  ; 
Hark  !  how  the  heavenly  anthem  drowns 

All  music  but  its  own. 
Awake,  my  soul,  and  sing 

Of  Him  Who  died  for  thee, 
And  hail  Him  as  thy  chosen  King 

Through  all  eternity. 

"  Crown  Him,  the  Lord  of  Love  1 

Behold  His  Hands  and  Side 
Rich  Wounds,  yet  visible  above 

In  beauty  glorified : 
No  angel  in  the  sky 

Can  fully  bear  that  sight. 
But  downward  bends  his  burning  eye 

At  mysteries  so  bright. 

"  Crown  Him,  the  Lord  of  Peace  : 

Whose  power  a  sceptre  sways 
From  pole  to  pole — that  wars  may  cease 

Absorbed  in  prayer  and  praise  : 
His  reign  shall  know  no  end, 

And  round  His  pierced  Feet 
Fair  flowers  of  paradise  extend 

Their  fragrance  ever  sweet. 

"  Crown  Him,  the  Lord  of  Years, 
The  Potentate  of  time  ; 
Creator  of  all  rolling  spheres. 

Ineffably  sublime : 
All  hail !  Redeemer,  hail ! 

For  Thou  hast  died  for  me : 
Thy  praise  shall  never,  never  fail 
Throughout  eternity." 

— M.  Bridges. 


INDEXES 

Compiled  by  Winifred  M.  Howells 


Scriptures  Referred  To 


*    Indicates  passages  more  fully  dealt  with, 
f  Indicates  that  the  subject  is  also  dealt  with  on  following  (f)  page. 


Genesis :  Page 

i,  I, 54 

26, 393 

26,  27, 24 

iii, 21/ 

5.* 57 

9. 401 

24,* 34.  48 


V,  I,  . 
ix,  6, 
xxii,  7, 


Numbers : 
xxiv,  17, 


24 

24 

H5 


99 


Deuteronomy : 

vi,  4. ^^,  132 

13, 201 

16, 20I 

viii,  3, 201 


xxix,  29, 

I  Samuel: 
ix,  6,  .    . 
9,   .    . 


I  Kings : 
xxi,  19, 


69 


137 
137 


239 


2  Kings : 

xvii,  z:i> 236 


Job: 


1,  9, 166 

xi,  7.      40 

xxvi,  7, 54 


Psalm : 


6,7, 


320/ 
190 


Psalm :  Page 

ii,  7, 121 

8,  9, 190 

12, 121 

viii,  4-8, 125 

xvi.  8-1 1,* 352 

xxiv,  7,  8,  10, 394 

XXV,  14  (mar.),     ....  130 

xlviii,  2, 176 

xci,  I, 180 

ciii,  20, 439 

cxv,  4-8, 48 

cxxii,  4, 176 

cxxv,  2, 176 

cxxxvii,  5, 176 


Proverbs : 
xviii,  14, 

Canticles : 
ii,  17.     • 


399 


Isaiah : 

vii,  14 96,  100 

ix,  6,* 16 

XXV,  9, 437 

XXX,  21, 256 

xxxii,  15, 409 

xliv,  3-5, 409 


1,6, 
liii,  2, 
3, 

4,  5» 
7,  • 


Jeremiah : 
ix,  I,      . 
xxxi,  15, 


399 
133 
100 
400 
296 


220 
100 


451 


452 


Scriptures  Referred  To 


Hosea:  Page 

ix,  7  (A.  V.  mar.),    ...     137 

xi,  I,      100 

xiii,  2, 43.  49 

Joel: 

ii,  28-32, 410 

Micah : 

V,  2, 100 

Habakkuk : 

iii,  4. 225 

Matthew : 

i,  I,* 14 

20, 99 

20-23, 70 

21. 397 

23, 100 

ii.  I,  2, 97 

1-12, 65 

2 99 

6, 100 

13-15. 108 

15, 100 

17, 100 

19-23. 108 

23, 100 

iii,  7, 140 

II,  12, 142 

13-17. 105 

14, 124 

15, 288 

17. 123,  167,  190 

iv,  I, 155/ 

I-". 151 

3. 162,  167,  179 

4, 170,  200 

5. 174 

5.6. 175 

6, 178/ 

7, 181/,  201 

8, 188 

9, 189 

10, 1927^  201 

10,  II, 162 

II, 207/ 

«7 307 

V,  8, 132 


Matthew :  Page 

V,  46, 56 

vi.  24 45 

33. 202 

viii,  31,  32, 208 

33. 308 

34. 309 

ix,  6 278 

15 279 

X,  38, 284 

38,  39 279 

xi,  28-30, 91 

xii.  38. 378 

40, 280,  378 

xiii,  44-46,* 280 

xvi,  13-16, 252 

14-19. 247 

17, 220 

21, 288 

21-23, 247 

22, 217 

23 251 

xvii,  I, 215 

I.  2, 215 

1-9. 213 

2, 219,  225,  246 

4. 217,  251 

5,    .    .    .  123,  221,  254,  256 

7 258 

8, 258 

9, 260 

17,  18, 263 

24-27, 264 

xviii,  12, 282 

xix,  14, 92 

XX,  18,  19, 285 

22, 285 

28,* 58,  286 

xxi,  37-44, 287 

xxvi,  2, 287 

12, 286 

18, 287 

21, 287 

53 209 

56 293 

xxvii,  32-56, 271/ 

37 306 

42. 341 

54  (mar.),  ....  331,  337 

56, 330 

xxviii,  1-8 347 

6, 375 


Scriptures  Referred  To  453 

Mark :                                         Page       Luke  :  Page 

i,  9-II,      105  iv,  I,  2 160 

12, 155/  1-13, 151/ 

12,  13, 151  2, 156/ 

13. 126,  157,  160  5 188 

ii,  10, 278  13, 207 

19,  20, 279  14,* 206 

V,  37-41, 248  16-21, 115 

41 249  V,  24, 278 

vi,  2,      128  34,  35. 279 

3. "3  vii,  8, 337 

viii,  36, 204  ix,  28, 215 

ix,  2, 215,  248  28,  29 219 

2,  3, 225  28-36, 213/ 

2-10, 213  29, 226 

6, 250  30, 243 

X,  33.  34. 285  30,  31,* 317 

35-40, 248  31, 240,  288 

38. 285  32, 242 

45. 286  33, 250 

xii,  6-10 267  38, 202 

xiv,  8, 286  X,  18, 283 

33.  34, 249  xi,  30, 280 

34. 250  xii,  50, 284 

XV,  22-41, 272  xiii,  32, 284 

34,* 294/  xiv,  27 284 

39, 40. 330/  XV,  4,  5, 284 

xvi,  I-ll, 347  xvii,  25, 285 

12,* 76  xviii,  31-33 285 

19. 387  XX,  13-18, 287 

xxii,  39-44, 289 

Luke :  xxiii,  27, 330 

i,  ". 99  27-49, 272/ 

26 99  xxiii,  34 294 

28, 336  38, 325 

35 •  .    .    .      71  42 327 

75, 442  43. 294,  327 

ii,  6-17, 65  /  44,  45. 325/ 

7, 71  46. 294,  324 

10-12, 99  47, 331,  338 

18, 100  xxiv,  I-12, 347/ 

21,  22, 108  21, 342 

40,* .109  50.  51. 387 

41-51,* no 

52,* 112,  292       John  : 

iii,  I,  2, 138  i,  Ix, 72/ 

7,8, 139/  1-4, 37 

9 141  II, 95 

13,  14, 141  14,* 66,  72/,  255 

21,  22, 105  15 143 

22, 121  18, 391,429 

iv,  I,* 155/,  206  26, 143 


454  Scriptures  Referred  To 

John :                                       Page      John :  Page 

1,26-28, 143  XV,  I, 119 

27, 143  26, 407, 429 

29,* 143/,  298  xvi,  8-II,      420 

29-34, 143  9. 403 

34, 147  II. ^12 

35,  36, 143  13,  14, 429 

36, 148  xix,  17-37, 273/ 

47, 277  25, 330 

51, 277  26,  27, 294 

ii,  4. 277  28, 294/ 

18 378  30,  .  294,  302,  314,  324,  376 

19, 278,  378  XX,  1-18,      348/ 

25. '31  29, 265 

iii,  13, 229 

14,  15, 278       Acts: 

16 437  i,  I "5 

18, 81  4, 407 

29,  30 148  9-1 1. 387 

iv,  34, 278  ii,  22,  23, 304 

V,  17 443  22-24, 352 

21, 279  25, 356 

25, 81  24-28, 351 

vi,  35' "9  25-28 353 

51-56 281  26, 357 

vii,  6-8, 282  28, 357 

15, 129  33, 405 

16,  17, 130  vi,  15, 227 

33,  34, 282  viii,  32, 146 

viii,  12, 119  X,  38,* 115 

28, 282  43, 239 

29, 133  xvii,  22-28, 51 

58, 119  xxiv,  24, 417 

ix,  4,* 283  xxvi,  24, 129 

35. -81 

X,  7, 1 19       Romans : 

II, 119,  283  iii,  23, 232 

17,  18 283,  361  26, 422 

36,      81  V,  10, 94,  427 

xi,  4, 81  12, 22,  395 

9 285  20, 316 

25,      119  vii,  21 323 

xii,  7, 286  viii,  34, 371 

28, 123,  289  37, 185 

31, 189  X,  9, 372 

34, 82  xii,  I, 27,  134 

xiv,  6, 119,  239  xvi,  10 417 

8, 428 

9, 429       I  Corinthians : 

16,  17, 407  ii,  2,* 371 

26, 407,  429  9,  10, 428 

30, i68  10, 290,411,429 


Scriptures  Referred  To 


455 


1  Corinthians:  Page 

xi,  7.      24 

xii,  3,* 403 

12 447 

xiii, 437 

XV,  14-17 372 

24, 322 

45. 156 

2  Corinthians: 

ii,  14. 417 

iv,  4, 24 

V,  19,*   84,  417 

21,* 298 

X,  5  (mar.), 426 

xii,  2, 417 

Ephesians : 

i,  3. 417 

18-20, 362 

19.* 367 

ii,  I, 420 

12 49 

iii,  21, 447 

iv,  13, 447 

18, 421 

30, 400 

Philippians : 

».  5. 93 

6,7. 75 

9, 396 

13. 426 

iv,  8 445 

13 424 

Colossians : 

h^S, 24 

18, 448 

19. 424 

21,  22, 85 

24-ii.  5> 424 

ii,  2, 67 

10, 424 

iii,  10, 24 

I  Thessalonians : 

iv,  14, 384 

16 4»7 


2  Timothy :  Page 

i.  7  * 393 

Hebrews : 

i,  I,  2, 255 

3.* 24/ 

14. 439 

ii,  6-9, 125 

ix,  14, 406 

X,  7, 228 

xi,  13, 23s 

22 318 

xii,  2, 240 

1  Peter: 

i,  12, 392 

18,  19, 281 

19, 146 

ii.  24 279,  299,  302 

2  Peter : 

i,  15. 250,  318 

16, 227,  373 

16-18, 256 

I  John : 

i,  5 436 

ii,  17. 196 

iii,  2, 441 

2,  3, 440 

iv,  8,   ........  401 

19, 38 

Jude : 

6,* 355 

Revelation : 

i,  5«  6, 448 

10 432 

17.  18, 394 

V,  i-io 387 

6 399 

xi,  15,* 197 

xxii,  21,* 14 


Poetry 


Page 
"  And  as  the  load  immense,  intolerable,"     E.  H.  Bickerstetk  ,     ,     .  270 
"  Yesterday,  To-day,  and  Forever." 

"  Bars  and  riven.  Foes  are  driven,"    .     .     Anon 328 

"  Crown  Him  with  many  crowns,"     .     .     M.  Bridges 449 

"  From  death  to  life," B.  M. 386 

"  Ezekiel  and  other  Poems." 

"  Grace  is  flowing  like  a  river,"      .     .     .     Anon 315 

"  Hath  it  been  ever  granted  those,  who  have 

pass'd," E.  H.  Bickerstetk  .     .     .  245 

"  Yesterday,  To-day  and  Forever." 

"  He   found  me  the  lost  and  the  wander- 
ing,"   V.  M.  C. 415 

"  Hymns  of  Ter  Steegen,  Suso." 

"  He  hell  in  hell  laid  low," Anon 208 

"  He  saw  me  ruined  in  the  fall,"    .     .     .     S.  Medley 61 

"  I  stand  upon  the  mount  of  God,"     .     .  G.  B.  Bubier     .     .     .     .221 
"  I  take  O  Cross,  thy  shadow,"  ....£.  C.  Clephane  ....  344 

"  Jesus  shall  reign  where'er  the  sun,"  .     .     /.   Watts  • 315 

"  Light  after  darkness," F.  R.  Havergal      .     .     ,221 

"  Under  The  Surface." 

"  My  Lord  at  home," .     F.  W.  H.  Myers    ,     .     .   104 

"St.  John  the  Baptist." 

"  O  Jesus,  Lord,  'tis  joy  to  know,"      .     .  Anon 302 

"  Our  Lord  is  now  rejected,"     ....  Maj.  Whittle      ....  403 

"  Our  wills  are  ours,  we  know  not  how,"  A.  Tennyson 32 

"  In  Memoriam." 

"  Rock  of  Ages,  cleft  for  me,"  .     .     .     .     A.  M.  Toplady  ....  396 

"  See  the  conquering  hero  comes,"      .     .      T.  Morell 58 

"  The  foe  behind,  the  deep  before,"    .     .     Dr.  Neale 346 

" The  Transfiguration," G.  Rmvson 2I3 

"Songs  of  Spiritual  Thought." 

456 


Poetry  457 


"  There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood,"       IV.  Cowper 341 

"  There    is   no   place    where    earth's   sor- 
rows,"     F.  IV.  Fader 244 

"  Where  He  displays  His  healing  power,"  /.  JVatts 423 

"  With  glory  wrapped  around,"     .     .     ,     Mrs.  Alexander  .     .     .     .  236 

"  Yet  I  doubt  not  through  the  ages,"      ,     A,  Tennyson 132 

"  Locksley  Hall." 


Writers  Quoted  or  Referred  to 


Page 
Bayne,  Peter,  .  ,  "  Testimony  of  Christ  to  Christianity,"  .  .  12 
Burton,  Henry,     .     "  The  Gospel  of  Luke,"    Expositors'  Series.     150 

BusHNELL,  Horace,    "  The  New  Life," 20 

Darwin, 40 

Huxley, 40 

Josephus, 178 

Kant, 27 

MouLE,  Handley, Cambridge  Bible  .     .     68,  427,  447 

Parker,  Joseph ; 30 

Roberts,  Richard, 98 

RusKiN,  John,    .     ,     "  Modem  Painters," 64 

«  St.  Mark's  Rest," 7 

Spencer, 40,  41 

Strauss 373 

Tyndall, 40 

Westcott ^ 129 


458 


Subject  Index 


Abel,  Page  Anchorage,  PAGE 

the  basis  of  his  acceptance,  392  The  resurrection  faith's,  373/ 

""''ThTbasis  of  Abel's.    .     .  392  ^^  ^^'''^'  '^^^  P"'"!^^^^  °''  '  ^^ 

^'"^"ooSufat  the  Cross,  The,  343  ^^^  ^^"  °^  ^^'^"  ^"'^  '^^A 

Act,  '         '-i^^  ,58,35s 

'of    crucifixion,    The    hu-  Anguish,  .      .  .      , 

man, 305/  The  cry  of  spiritual,    .     297/ 

of  love,  God's  rejection  of  Annunciations, 

man  an, 368  of  the  birth  of  Jesus,  The,  70/ 

The  resurrection  a  Divine,  364  , 

Apostles, 

*^.'     r  „    ,  ,      r  .  their  attitude  towards  death, 

Ihe  fall  the  result  of  in-  -phe  247 

dependent 33  associated   specially    with 

Activity,  Jesus,  The 247 

of  redeemed  man.  The,    .  443  The  three, 218 

Adam,  Appearances, 

The  first, 156  ^fter  resurrection,  The,     ,  382 

The  last, 156  .         .        j 

Administrator,  Apprehension, 

The  Lamb  the  active, .     .  404  °^  ^^'''^'  ^^^  individual,  433 

Affection,  Approach, 

Jesus  perfect  in,      .     ,     131/  The  sense  of  hunger,  the 

of  man  restored.  The, .     .444  avenue  of, 165 

Afters,  Approval, 

God's, 221  of  Jesus,  God's  continual,  363 

Agent,  Argument, 

of  temptation,  The  devil  of  the  devil.  The,  167,  178,  189 

the, ^57/  for  resurrection,  Paul's,    .  378 

Agony,  Ascension, 

The  cry  of  physical,  .  .  295  The  fact  of  the,  ....  389 
Alienation,  of  Jesus,  The 397 

a  Divine  act, 34  the  link  between  resurrec- 

of  man  the  result  of  dis-  tion  and  Pentecost,  .     .  389 

obedience,  The,  ...     34  of  the  Man  of  Nazareth, 

Man  a  ruin  through,    .     .     35  The, 392 

459 


460  Subject 

Aspect,  Page 

of   Christ's   coming,  The 

constructive,    ....   142 
of    Christ's   coming,  The 
destructive,     ....  142 

Assumed, 

Jesus'  victory  over  sin,     356/ 

Atonement, 

Incarnation  not, ....  74 
A  theory  of  the,      .     297,  301 

Atoning, 

sufferings.  The 303 

Attitude, 

of   the    apostles    towards 
death,  The,     ....  247 

Authority, 

over  evil,  Jesus',  .  .  207/ 
The  Lamb  the  final,  .  .  403 
of   the    Mosaic   economy, 

The  Divine,    ....  205 
of   the    New   Testament, 

The, 382 

won  in  victory,  Jesus',      .  192 

Baal, 

The  worship  of,  .     .     .     .     44 

Baptism, 

Jesus'  consciousness  of  the 

Cross  at, 288 

of  Jesus,  The 120 

Baptist, 

John  the, 137/ 

Basis, 

of  Abel's  acceptance,  The,  392 

Beasts, 

Jesus  and  the  wild,      .     .157 

Beginning, 

In  the 72 

Being, 

Man  restored  to  the  possi- 
bility of  his  own,      .     .  443 
Benefactor, 

Jesus  a 116 

Bible, 

Christ  the  Subject  of  the,     13 

Birth, 

of  Jesus,   The   annuncia- 
tions of  the 70/ 


Index 

Birth,                                         Page 
of  Jesus,  The  declarations 
of  the 71/ 

Blundering, 

of  Peter,  The,    .     .  233,  250/ 

Body, 

the  expression  of  the  spirit. 
The, 27 

Capacity, 

for  joy  and  sorrow.  Love 

the, 401 

Man's  original,   ....     36 
Revelation  according  to,  .  222 

Carpenter, 

Jesus  a, 113 

Carpentry, 

of  Jesus,  The  perfect, .     .134 

Centurion, 

at  the  Cross,  The,    331,  337/ 

Character, 

of  Christ,  The 393 

and  conduct, 44 ^ 

and  conduct  of  Christ,  Man 
like  God  in  realizing  the,  443 


25 


Childhood, 

of  Jesus,  The,      .     .     . 

Choirs, 

The  heavenly,    .     .     . 

Christ, 

The  individual  apprehen 

sion  of, 

God's  approbation  of,  . 
The  atoning  sufferings  of, 
His  challenge  to  the  devi" 

as  Man,  .... 
The  character  of,  .  • 
and  the  Church,  .  . 
The  constructive  aspect  of 

the  coming  of,  ...  142 
the  engraved  copy  of  God,  26 
The  destructive  aspect  of 

the  coming  of,  ...  142 
the  Creator  of  history,  .  259 
The  crises  in  the  life  of,  .     17 


394 


433 
123 

303 

169 

393 
446 


Subject  Index 


461 


Christ,  Page 

His  delight  in  the  will  of 

God, 175 

The    expiatory  sufferings 

of, 303 

The  forsaking  of,     .     .     297/ 
the  Fulfiller  of  history      .  259 
the  Fulfiller  of  past  proph- 
ecy,   87 

The  gift  of, 61 

His  glory  hidden,  .  .  224/ 
The  growing  isolation  in 

the  life  of, 292 

The  issue  of  His  work,    .  425 

Life,  The, 423 

His  life  a  Divine  work,  .  16 
The  Lord  Jesus,  ...  14 
His  loyalty  to  God's  will 

attacked, 163 

Man  like  God  in  realizing 
the  character  and  con- 
duct of,  .     .     •     .     .     .  443 
The    magnifying    of    the 

Man  Jesus,  ....  436 
The  mind  of,  ....  93 
The  mission  of,  ....  14 
His  mission  attacked,  .  .  186 
the  mystery  of  God,  .  d'j  f 
the  Object  presented,  .  .  434 
The     perfection     of     the 

Church  in, 424 

The  promise  of  the  Spirit 

made  by, 407 

is  restored  to  God,  Man 

joined  to, 422 

His     resurrection,    God's 

seal  upon  His  work,     36 ly 
is  God's  Medium  of  Self- 
revelation,  428 

received    the    Spirit    for 

others,  ....  408,  410 
to  man.  The  Spirit  reveals,  430 
The  Spirit  unveils,  .  .  433/" 
Why  the  Spirit  was  given 

to, 411 

the  Subject  of  the  Bible, .  13 
His  sufferings  impossible 

of  final  statement,    .     .  293 

and  the  temple,  ....  177 

His  trust  in  God  attacked,  174/ 

The    vicarious    sufferings 

of, 303 


Christ,  Page 

His  perfect  victory  over 
evil, 198/ 

Church, 

Christ  and  the,    ....  446 
in  Christ,  The  perfection 

of  the, 424 

The  heresies  of  the,     .     .182 
the  supreme  proof  of  the 

resurrection,  The,     .     .  383 

Circumcision, 

of  Jesus,  The,     ....  109 

City, 

of  Jerusalem,  The, .     .     175/ 

Claim, 

of  the  devil  to  the  king- 
doms. The,      ....  189 
Cloud, 

The  bright,     ....    253/ 
Colossians, 

The  threefold  mystery  in,  424 
Coming, 

The  constructive  aspect  of 

Christ's, 142 

The  destructive  aspect  of 

Christ's 142 

of  the  Greeks,  Jesus'  con- 
sciousness of  the  Cross 

at  the, 289 

Communion, 

issues  in  transfiguration,  .  222 
Completion, 

of  every  temptation.  The,  207 
Conduct, 

Character  and,    ....  441 
of  Christ,  Man  like  God 
in    realization    of    the 
character  and,      .     .     .  443 
possible  ?  Is  righteousness 

of, 291 

Confession, 

of  defeat.  The  devil's,      .  202 
of  Peter,  Jesus'  conscious- 
ness of  the  Cross  at  the,  288 
of  Peter,  The  transfigura- 
tion after  the 215 

Confirmation, 

of  Jesus,  The,     .     .     .     l  \of 


462 


Subject  Index 


Page 

•  30s 

•  154 

•  153 

•  299 
.  228 


Conflict, 

Love  and  sin  in, 
Jesus'  supreme,  ,     , 
Thirty  years  of,  ,     . 
Consciousness, 

of  lack,  Sorrow  the, 
Consummation, 

The  transfiguration  a, 
Continuity, 

of   existence  after  death, 

Tlie, 243 

Conversation, 

of  the  exodus.  The,     .     .  216 
Conviction, 

The    work   of   the   Spirit 

that  of, 419 

Cost, 

of  possessing  the  kingdoms. 

The, 192 

Creation, 

Jesus  Master  of, .     .     .     .126 

Jesus  a  new, ^^4 

Man,  master  of,  .     .     .     .125 
Man's  cultivation  of,  and 

dominion  over,    ...     30 
The  purpose  of  man's,      .  439 
The  Word  in,     ....     37 
Creator, 

of  history,  Christ  the,  .     .  259 
Crises, 

in  the  life  of  Christ,  The,     17 
Crisis, 

God's  method  of  process 

and, 16 

John's  sense  of  a  coming,   141 
Cross, 

His  acquaintance  at  the,  .  343 
at     baptism,    Jesus'    con- 
sciousness of  the,      .     .  288 
The  centurion  at  the,  331,  337/ 
at     the     coming    of     the 
Greeks,      Jesus'      con- 
sciousness of  the,     .     .  289 
The  shepherdless  crowd  at 

the, 342 

His  disciples  at  the,     332,  343 
The  facts  preceding  the,  295/ 
Earth's  religious  failure  at 
the, 240 


Cross,  Page 

The  Divine  foreknowl- 
edge of  the,    .     .     .     ,304 

in  the  Garden,  Jesus'  con- 
sciousness of  the,      .     .  289 

Worldly  government  at 
the, 337/ 

The  revelation  of  grace 
in  the, 311/ 

Jesus  always  conscious  of 
the, 275 

The  revelation  of  love  in 
the, 312/ 

The    malefactors    at    the, 

331,  339 
Mary  Magdalene  at  the,  .  330 
Mary  His  mother  at  the,  .  330 
the  meaning  of  Messiah- 
ship,  The, 215 

The  multitude  at  the,  332,  342 
at  Peter's  confession,  Jesus' 

consciousness  of  the,  .  288 
The  chief  priests  at  the, 

332,  340 
solves  two  problems.  The,  290 
Salome  at  the,  ....  330 
The  Sanhedrin  at  the,  332,  340 
The  soldiers  at  the,  331,  338 
Sorrow  at  the,  ....  333 
The  superscription  of  the,  325 
at    transfiguration,   Jesus' 

consciousness  of  the,  .  288 
The    seven    utterances  of 

the, 294 

The  revelation  of  wisdom 

in  the, 313/ 

The  women  at  the, .  .  .  330 
The  world's  folly  at  the,  .  341 

Crowd, 

at  the  Cross,  The  shep- 
herdless,      342 

Crucifixion, 

The  human  act  of,  .  .  305/" 
Human  degradation  in  the,  306 

Cry, 

of  physical  agony.  The,  295/ 
of  spiritual  anguish,  The,  297/" 

Culture, 

Greek, 96 


Subject  Index                          463 

Daring,                                 Page  Devil.                                     Page 

of  the  devil,  The,    .     .     .  i86  His    estimate   of    Divine 

Sonship, 107 

Days,  His   inversion  of   Divine 

of  Incarnation,  The,    .     .  390  order, 201 

Death  J°^  ^"^  '^^' *^^ 

Continuity     of    existence  The  method  of  the,           .     32 

j^ffgr                                    243  The  personahty  of  the,     .   158 

The  disciples'  attitude  to-  The  repulse  of  the       .     . 

wards          247  168,  181,  192 

The  Master  bowing  to,     .  249  I^^  ^"^^^^7  Z^  *fe'     •■   '54 

The  Master  Lord  over,     .  249  ^'^^  "'^  °f  *^  ^°'^  ^^ 

The  Master  superior  to,    .  249  the, I60 

why  a  necessity  to  man,  .  395  Disciples 

Reconciliation  only  through,  94  at  the  Cross,  The,    .    332,343 

The  resurrection  of  Jesus  ^j^^  ^^^^^   '  _       '   _     ^-^  _  ^^ 

proves  the  value  of  His,  377  ^^^  influence  of  the  trans- 

Spiritual  and  material,           49  figuration  on  the,      .     .255 

The     transfiguration    the  specially    associated   with 

prelude  to, 231  jesus  The                 .     .  247 

The     transfiguration    the  Their  m'isunderstanding  of 

preparation  for,   .     .     .233  Messiahship         .     .     .217 

The  moral  value  created  j^^^.^  ^p^^^j^  interrupted,  254 

in  Jesus  , 359  -pj^g  transfiguration  for  the 

Declarations,  sake  of  the,     ,     .     219,  246 

of  the  birth  of  Jesus,  The,  71/  The  transfiguration  for  the 

^      ,  strengthening  of  the  faith 

Deeds  oftht,     .....  218 
of  Jesus,  The,     ....     91 

Defeat,  Disease, 

The  devil's  confession  of,  202  in  Jesus,  No, 135 

of  the  devil,  The  utter,     .   199 

D      •  d  t'  Divine, 

egia  ^       >  act,  The  resurrection  a,    .   364 

m  the  Cross,  Human,  .     .306  forknowledge     of     the 

Deities,  Cross,  The,     ....  304 

Man's  creation  of  false,    .42/  Kingship,       ....     319/ 

Destruction,  Kingship    acknowledged, 

of  swine.  The,    .     .     .     308/"  The, 327 

Devil  purpose,  Jesus  the  perfec- 

the   agent   of  temptation,  tio"  of  *e,     ....  393 

The, 1^7/  satisfaction  of  Jesus,  The,  254 

The  argument  of  the,  .     .  j->  • 

TT-        1  •       ..     ^1       1  •  and    teaching    of    Jesus, 

His    claim    to   the    king-  rp,               *■           •'            w,- 

doms, 189  ' 5 

His  confession  of  defeat,  .  202  Dominion 

The  daring  of  the,  .     .     .186  over  creation,  Man's,  .     .     30 

The  utter  defeat  of  the,    .   199 

His  estimate  of  humanity,   166  Dove, 

His  estimate  of  Jesus,      .  203  The  descending,      .     .     .    121 


464  Subject 

Earth,  Page 

Its  religious  failure  at  the 

Cross, 340 

The  interest  of  heaven  in,  244 

Economy, 

The   Divine   authority  of 
the  Mosaic,     .     .     .     .205 

Egypt, 

The  flight  of  Jesus  into,   108/ 

Eikibv, 

25 

Elijah, 

and  Moses  still  men,    .     .  243 
the  prophet  and  reformer, 

236/,  390 
Enoch, 

390 

Estimate, 

of  the  devil  of  humanity. 

The, 166 

of  the  devil  of  Jesus,  The,  203 
of   the    devil   of    Divine 

Sonship,  The, .     .     .     .167 
of  the  Master  of  one  soul, 

The, 204 

Evil, 

The    authority    of   Jesus 

over, 207/" 

Christ's  thirty  years'  con- 
flict with, 153 

Christ's     perfect     victory 

over, 198/ 

in  man.  The  genesis  of,    .     57 

Existence, 

after  death,  Continuity  of,  243 

E^oSov, 

240,  318 

Exodus, 

The    children    of   Israel, 

and  their,  ....  240/ 
The  completed,  ....  326 
The  conversation  of  the,  .216 

The  Kingly 3^7/ 

The  unfinished,  ....  326 

Expiatory, 

sufferings  of  Christ,  The,    303 

Expositor, 

of  the  Word,  The  Spirit 
the, 430 


Index 

Fact,  Page 

of  ascension.  The,  .     .     .  389 
The  value  of  the  resurrec- 
tion granted  by  the,      .  377 

Facts, 

preceding  the  Cross,  The,  295/ 

Failure, 

at  the  Cross,  Earth's  relig- 
ious,   340 

Faith, 

The  resurrection  the  an- 
chorage for,    .     .     .     373/ 

The  transfiguration  for  the 
strengthening     of     the 

disciples', 218 

Fall, 

The    ignorance   resulting 
from  the, 4° 

of  man.  The,      ....   158 

the  result  of  independent 
action.  The,    .     •     •     •     33 

of  Satan  and  the  angels. 

The 158,355 

Familiarity, 

with  the  Word,  The  Mas- 
ter's,       205 

Father, 

Jesus  a  full  Revelation  of 

the, 391 

Favourite, 

Jesus  a, 113 

Fellowship, 

of  the  shekel,  The,     .     263/ 

First, 

Adam,  The, 156 

Flight, 

of  Jesus  into  Egypt,  The,  108/ 

Floral, 

culture 3° 

Folly, 

in  the  Cross,  The  world's,  341 

Food, 

Spiritual  food  more  than 
material, I?' 

Forces, 

The  three  world,     .     .    306/ 

Foreknowledge, 

of  the  Cross,  the  Divine, .  304 


Subject  Index 


465 


Forerunner,  Page 

John  the 137/ 

Forsaking, 

of  Christ,  The,   .     .     .     297/ 

Fulfiller, 

of  history,  The  Christ  the,  259 
of    past    prophecy,     The 
Christ  the, 87 

Garden, 

The  consciousness  of  the 
Cross  in  the,  ....  289 

Genesis, 

of  evil  in  man,  The,    .     .     57 

Gift, 

of  Christ,  The,  .     ,     .     .     61 

Gifts, 

of  the  Magi,  The,  ...  100 

Glorification, 

the  third  fact  in  redemp- 
tion  440 

Glory, 

hidden,  Christ's,      .     .     224/ 
inherent,  The  transfigura- 
tion,   227 

God, 

His « afters,"  .  .  .  .221 
His  approbation  of  Christ,  123 
His  continual  approval  of 

Jesus,     i 363 

The    attack    on    Christ's 

loyalty  to  the  will  of,    .  163 
The    attack    on    Christ's 

trust  in,      ....     174/^ 
Christ's  delight  in  the  will 

of,     ....,,.   175 
Christ  the  Mystery  of, .     .  67/ 
Human  conception  of, .     .     41 
Development  of  the  reve- 
lation of, 16/ 

The  God-man  the  meeting 

place  between  man  and,  426 
Jesus  the  Gateway  of  man 

to, 90 

Jesus  the  purpose  of,  .  .  87 
Jesus  not  smitten  of,  .  .  400 
Jesus  identified  as  Son  of,  254 
His  knowledge  infinite,  .  54/ 
The  Lamb  of  God  the 
Son  of, 148 


God,  Page 

Human  life  sustained  in, .  51 
The  infinite  love  of,  .  .  437 
His  love  the  necessity  of 

His  Being 61 

His    love    the    reason   of 

redemption,     ....     61 
Man's      anthropomorphic 

ideas  of, 86 

Man  joined  to  Christ  is  re- 
stored to, 422 

known  to  man,  .  .  .  435/^ 
Man  a  revelation  of,  .  .  443 
Man  the  shadow  of,  .  .  25 
His   methods   of    process 

and  crisis, 16 

expressed  in  Nature     .    50,  86 

The  pain  of, 400 

in  realization  of  the  char- 
acter   and    conduct    of 
Christ,  Man  like,      .     .  443 
His  rejection  of  imperfec- 
tion,   365 

His  rejection  of  man  an 

act  of  love,     ....  368 
Restoration  to  the  image 

of, 439 

Satan  a  servant  of,  .  .  .  354 
His    seal    upon    Christ's 

work  the  resurrection,  361/" 
The  Self-revelation  of,      .     87 
The    severity    and   judg- 
ment of, 312 

The  Son  of, 81 

capable  of  sorrow,  .     .     .401 

The  unity  of, 88 

The  value  of  the  approba- 
tion of, 123/ 

The  way  back  to,  .  .  .411 
His  will  simple, .  .  .  .  57 
The  work  of,  ....  283 
The  alone  worship  of,.     .   194 

God-Man, 

No  explanation  of  the,     .     79 
unknown  in  history,  The,     80 
human   and   Divine,  The,     78 
the  meeting-place  between 
man  and  God,  The,     .  426 

Gods, 

of  Rome  and  Greece,  The,     87 


466  Subject 

Government,  Page 

at  the  Cross,  Worldly, .     337/ 
of  Rome,  The,  ....    96 

Grace, 

aljounded  more  exceed- 
ingly,      316 

at  the  Cross,  The  revela- 
tion of,  311/ 

Fpafifiaraf 

129 

Greece, 

The  culture  of,   ....     96 

The  gods  of, 87 

Greeks, 

Jesus'  consciousness  of  the 
Cross  at  the  coming  of 
the, 289 

Growth, 

of  Jesus,  The,    .     .     .     110/ 

Happen, 

If  no  resurrection,  what 
did 380 

Head, 

of  a  new  race,  Jesus  the, .  369 

Heaven, 

Abel  in, 392 

in  earth.  The  interest  of, .  244 

Heavens, 

The  opened 120 

Hebrew, 

nation  a  theocracy.  The,  .  177 

prophets,  The I37 

religion.  The,     ....  196 

Heresies, 

of  the  Church,  The,    .     .   182 

Herod, 

and  the  innocents,  .     .     .100 

History, 

Christ  the  Creator  of,  ,  .  259 
Christ  the  Fulfiller  of, .     .  259 

Humanity, 

The  devil's  estimate  of,  .  166 
The  solidarity  of,  .  .  .  446 
in  transfiguration,  Perfect,  229 

Hunger, 

the  avenue  of  approach. 
The  sense  of, .    .    .     .165 


Index 

Hunger,                                   Page 
natural  and   sinless,  The 
sense  of, 165 

I, 

am's  of  Jesus,  The,     .    .119 

Ideal, 

The  realization  of  the 
ideal  greater  than  the 
original 447 

Ideas, 

The  Incarnation  corrects 
false, 85 

Identification, 

of  Jesus  with  siiiners,The,  120 

If, 

Christ  be  not  risen,     .     378/ 

Image, 

Man's  restoration  to  God's,  439 

Imperfection, 

God's  rejection  of,  .     .     .  365 

Importance, 

of  the  resurrection,  The,  .  371 

In, 

the  beginning,    .     .     .     .72/ 

Incarnation, 

not  atonement.  The,    .     .  74 
The  days  of  the,     .     .     .390 

corrects  false  ideas,  The,  .  85 
initial    and    fundamental, 

The, 67 

The  purpose  of  the,     .     .  84 

not  reconciliation.  The,    .  94 
The  testimony  of  Scripture 

to  the, 67 

Individual, 

apprehension    of    Christ, 

The, 433/ 

Induction, 

of  Jesus  to  office.  The,     .115 

Infancy, 

of  Jesus,  The,     .     .     .     108/ 

Influence, 

of   the  transfiguration  on 
the  disciples,  The,    .     .  255 

Innocents, 

The  slaughter  of  the,  .     .  lOO 


Subject  Index 


467 


Intelligence,                           Page 
Human  wisdom  limits  hu- 
man,       68 

Interest, 

of  heaven  in  earth.  The,  .  244 

Introduction, 

of  John  the  Baptist,  The,  138 

Inversion, 

of  the  Divine  order,  The 
devil's,  ......  201 

Investiture, 

with  a  name,  Jesus',    .    396/ 

Isolation, 

in  Christ's  life.  The  grow- 
ing  292 

Issue, 

of  Christ's  work.  The,  ,  425 
The  seed  and  its,  .  .  .  230 
of  sin.  The  final,     .     .     .  297 

Jerusalem, 

The  city  of,    ...     ,     175/ 

Jesus  and, 176 

The  temple  at,    .     .     .     .177 
Jesus, 

perfect  in  affection,  .  131/ 
God's  continual  approval 

of. 363 

The  ascension  of,  ,  .  ,  397 
His  authority  over  evil,  207/" 
The  baptism  of, .  .  .  .120 
and  the  wild  beasts,     .     .  157 

a  Benefactor, 116 

a  Carpenter, 113 

His  carpentry  perfect, .  .  134 
The  childhood  of,  .  .  .  1 10 
The  circumcision  of,  .  ,  109 
The  confirmation  of,  .  1 10/ 
a  new  creation,  ....  354 
always   conscious   of   the 

Cross 275 

His  death  valuable  because 

of  His  perfect  life,  .     .231 
The  deeds  of,     ....     91 
The  devil's  estimate  of,    .  203 
The   three   disciples  asso- 
ciated with,     ....  247 

No  disease  in 135 

His  doing  and  teaching,  .   115 


Jesus,  Page 

a  favourite,  .  .  .  .  -113 
The  flight  into  Egypt  of,  108/ 
The  Fulfiller  of  prophecy,  221 
The  Gateway  of  God  to 

man, go 

The  Gateway  of  man  to 

God, 90 

not  smitten  of  God,  .  .  400 
The  growth  of,  .  .  .  Iioy 
the  Head  of  a  new  race,  .  369 
The  "  I  am's  "  of,  .  .  .119 
His     identification    with 

sinners, 120 

His  induction  to  office,  .  115 
The  infancy  of,  .  .  .  108/" 
His     investiture    with    a 

Name, 396/ 

and  Jerusalem,  ....  176 

and  John, 142 

the  Lamb  of  God,  .  .  ,  143 
The  Manhood  of,  .  .  112/ 
Man's  unpreparedness  for,  95 
Master  of  creation,  .  .126 
Master  of  learning,  .  129/ 
conscious    of    His   whole 

mission, 275 

only, 265 

His  perfection,  .  .  .  .120 
His  physical  perfection,  133/ 
the  perfection  of  the  Di- 
vine purpose,  ....  393 
His  perfection  of  Spirit,  126/ 
a  perfect  human  Personal- 

.    ity 89 

in  the  temple.  The  presen- 
tation of,     ...     .     io8/ 
God's  purpose  for  human- 
ity.     87 

a  thought  reader,  .  .  .130 
His    relation   to   unfallen 

powers,  ....  208/ 
His  return  to  Nazareth,  108/ 
the  full  Revelation  of  the 

Father, 391 

the  final  Sacrifice  for  sin,  145 
The  Divine  satisfaction  of,  254 
All  secrets  apparent  to,  .131 
the  Self-revelation  of  God,  87 
the  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  370 
identified  as  the  Son  of 
God 254 


468 


Subject  Index 


Jesus,                                       Page 
led  by  the  Spirit  in  temp- 
tation,    159 

His  teaching 90 

His  teaching  in  John, .  .118 
His  teaching  in  Luke,  117/ 
His  teaching  in  Mark,  .  117 
His  teaching  in  Matthew,  116/ 
perfect  in  spite  of  tempta- 
tion,        136 

The  transfiguration  unnec- 
essary to, 228 

The  moral  value  created 

in  the  death  of,   ,     .     .  359 
His   victory  over  sin  as- 
sumed,   356/^ 

His    victory  over  sin   as 

origin, 354 

His  victory  over  sin  from 

without, 356 

The  youth  of,     .     .     .     Ii2y 

Jewish, 

nation.  The, 326 

Jews, 

Their  misunderstanding  of 
Scripture, 95 

Job, 

and  the  devil 166 

John, 

the  Baptist,    ....     137/ 
His  congregations  in  Ju- 
daea  139 

His  consciousness  of  sin,  139 
the  forerunner,  .  .  .  137/ 
His  minute  introduction,  ,   138 

and  Jesus, 142 

Jesus'     teaching    in    the 

Gospel  of, 118 

the  last  of  the  prophets,  .  137 
and  the  publicans,  .  .  .  140 
His  sense  of  a  crisis,  .  .  141 
and  the  soldiers,  .  .  .141 
His  preliminary  vision,  .  139 
His  supreme  vision  of  love,  142 

Joy, 

and  sorrow,  Love  the  ca- 
pacity for, 401 

Judaea, 

John's  congregations  in,  .   139 


Judaism,                                   Page 
238 

Judgment, 

of  God,  The  severity  and,  312 
Justification, 

291,  422 

the   first  fact  in  redemp- 
tion,   440 

King, 

The  resurrection  the  vic- 
tory of  the,   ....    364 

The  Son  the  anointed,  .    .    190 
Kingdom, 

The  perfect, 196/ 

Kingdoms, 

The  claim  of  the  devil  to 
the, 189 

The  cost  of  possessing  the,  192 

The  imperfect 195 

The  vision  of  the,    ...    188 
Kingship, 

acknowledged.    The    Di- 
vine,   327 

Knowledge, 

God's  infinite, 54/ 

of  man  restored.  The,  .    .   443 

Lack, 

Sorrow  the  consciousness 

of, 299 

Lamb, 

the  active  Administrator, 

The, 404 

the  final  authority.  The,  .    403 
the    Bearer   of    sin   as   a 

principle.  The,  ....    147 
of  God,  Jesus  the,    .    .    .    143 

slain,  A, 402 

the  Son  of  God,  The,  .    .    148 
in  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments, The, 145 

on  the  throne  of  power. 

The 403 

Last, 

Adam,  The, 156 

Lawgiver, 

Moses  the, 236 

Learning, 

Jesus  Master  of,   .   .    .     129/ 


Subject  Index 


469 


Life,  Page 

The  Christ 423 

all  sustained  in  God,    .    .      51 
The  growing  isolation  in 

Christ's, 292 

Jesus'  death  valuable  be- 
cause of  His  perfect,    .    231 

Link, 

between  resurrection  and 
pentecost,  The  ascension 
the 389 

Lord, 

over  death,  The  Master,  .    249 

Love, 

the  capacity  for  joy  or  sor- 
row,     401 

of  God,  the  infinite,  .    .    .   437 
God's  rejection  of  man  an 

act  of, 368 

John's  supreme  vision  of,  142 
the  necessity  of  God's  Be- 
ing  56,  61 

The  revelation  of,     .    .    312/" 
and  sin  in  conflict,    .    .    .    305 

Loyalty, 

to  God's  will  attacked, 
Christ's, 163 

Luke, 

Jesus'    teaching    in     the 

Gospel  of, 117/ 

Lunatic, 

in  the  valley,  The,   .    .    262^" 

Magi, 

The, 98 

The  gifts  of  the,  ....    icx) 

Malefactor, 

The  story  of  the,  ....   325 

Malefactors, 

at  the  Cross,  The,     .331,  339 

Mammon, 

worship, 45^ 

Man, 

The  activity  of  redeemed,  443 
The  original  capacity  of,     36 
Christ's  challenge  as,  .    .    169 
Christ  Jesus,  The  magni- 
fying of  the,      ....   436 


Man,  Page 

joined  to  Christ  is  restored 

to  God, 422 

made  for  communion  with 

God, 28 

His  conception  of  God,  .  42 
His  cultivation  of  creation,  30 
Death  why  a  necessity  to,  395 
and  false  deities,  ....  42/ 
His  dominion  over  crea- 
tion,     30 

The  fall  of, 158 

His  fall  independent  ac- 
tion,     33 

His  fall  and  ignorance  re- 
sulting,   40 

The  free  will  of,  .    .    .   32,  38 
The  genesis  of  evil  in,     .      57 
demands  a  god,     ....     41 
fallen  unlike  God,    ...      59 
like  the  God  he  creates,  .      48 
like  God  in  realization  of 
the  character  and  con- 
duct of  Christ,  ....   443 
God  known  to,  ...    .    435/ 
The   God-man   the  meet- 
ing-place between  God 

and, 426 

His  ideas  of  God  anthro- 
pomorphic,     86 

the    image    of   Deity   in 

spirit, 27 

a  ruined  instrument,     .    .     41 
Jesus  the  Gateway  of  God 

to, 90 

know  thyself, 52 

His  knowledge,  affection, 

and  will  restored,  .    .    443/ 
His    knowledge   restored 
in  redemption,  ....  37/ 

fallen  a  lie, 60 

master  of  creation,  .    .    .    125 
of  Nazareth,  The   ascen- 
sion of  the, 392 

restored  to  the  possibility 

of  his  own  being,     .    .    443 
The    preparation    of   the 

spirit  of, 433 

The  purpose  of  the  crea- 
tion of, 439 

The    resurrection  of   the 
perfect, 364 


470 


Subject  Index 


Man,  Page 

a  revelation  of  God,  .  .  443 
a  ruin  through  alienation,  35 
his  ruin  and  redemption,  17 
a  shadow  of  God,     .    ,    .      25 

The  Son  of, 81 

essentially  spirit,  .  .  26/,  52 
The  Spirit  reveals  Christ 

to, .   430 

responding  by  submission 

is  saved, 420 

The  transfigured,  .  .  .  225 
His    unpreparedness    for 

Jesus, 95 

created  for  work,  ....    198 
Manhood, 

of  Jesus,  The,  ....  112/ 
The  perfection  of,    ...    392 

Mark, 

Jesus'     teaching    in    the 
Gospel  of,      ■•    ...    117 

Mary, 

Magdalene  at  the  Cross,  .  330 
Magdalene,   The    sorrow 

of, 333/ 

His  mother  at  the  Cross,  330 
The      sorrow      of      His 

mother 335/ 

Master, 

bowing  to  death,  The,  .  249 
Lord  over  death,  The,  .  249 
superior  to  death.  The  .  249 
His  estimate  of  one  soul,  204 
His   familiarity   with  the 

Word, 205 

His  temptation  in  relation 

to  His  ministry,    .    .    205/ 
His  use  of  the  Word,  .    .    205 

Matthew, 

Jesus'     teaching     in    the 
Gospel  of, 116/ 

Meaning, 

of  Messiahship,  The  Cross 

the, 215 

Mediation, 

perfect     in     resurrection. 
The  Saviour's,  ....   364 

Medium, 

of  Divine  expression.  The 
Word, 73 


Medium,                                 Page 
of  Self-Revelation,  Christ 
God's, 428 

Men, 

Moses  and  Elijah  still,     .   243 

Messiahship, 

The  Cross  the  meaning  of,  215 

The    disciples'   misunder- 
standing of, 217 

Methods, 

of    God    in    process   and 
crisis,  The, 16 

of  the  devil.  The,    ...     32 
Mind, 

of  Christ,  The,     ....      93 
Ministry, 

Angelic, 99 

The   Master's   temptation 
in  relation  to  His,    .    205/ 

The  purpose  of  angelic,  .   439 

Mission, 

The  attack  on  Christ's  .  186 
of  Christ,  The,  .....  14 
Jesus    conscious    of    His 

whole 275 

Misunderstanding, 

of  Messiahship,  The  dis- 
ciples',    217 

Moloch, 

The  worship  of,    ...    .     44 

76 

Moses, 

and  Elijah  still  men,    .    .  243 

the  Lawgiver, 236 

Mother, 

at  the  Cross,  His,  ...  330 
The  sorrow  of  His,  ...    335 

Mountain, 

The  temptation  on  the,    .    188 

Multitudes, 

at  the  Cross,  The,    .   332,342 

Mystery, 

in  Colossians,  The  three- 
fold,     424 

revealed,  The, 68 

of  silence,  The,  ....  3°^ 
The  secret  things  a,     .    .     69 


Subject 

Name,  Page 

Jesus'  investiture  with  a,  396 
above  every  name,  The,  396/ 

Nation, 

The  Jewish, 326 

Nature, 

God  expressed  in,    .    .   50,  86 
of  sin,  The  true,  .    .    .    304/ 

Nazareth, 

The  ascension  of  the  Man 

of, 392 

and  its  inhabitants,  ...    127 
Jesus'  return  to,   .    .    .     lo8/" 

Necessity, 

to  man,  Death  why  a,      .    395 
The  resurrection  a,  .    .    .   352 

New, 

Testament,  The  authority 
of  the, 382 

Obedience, 

to  revelation  demanded,  .    434 

Object, 

presented,  Christ  the,  .    .   434 

Occasion, 

of     the      transfiguration. 

The, 215/ 

Order, 

The   devil's   inversion   of 
Divine, 201 

of  the   temptations.  The,  162 
Origin, 

of  sin,  The  primal,  ...    355 

Jesus'  victory  over  sin  as,  354 

Pain, 

of  God,  The, 400 

Parable, 

The  threefold, 280 

Paralysis, 

of  sin  borne  and  broken, 

The, 324 

Parliament, 

of  religions.  The,     ...    253 
Passing, 

of  Moses  and  Elijah,  The 
significance  of  the,  .    .   241 


Index  471 

Paul,                                          Paee 
His  argument  for  resurrec- 
tion,     378 

Penalty, 

of  sin  borne  and  broken, 

The, 324 

borne,  A  value  in  the,     .    299 

Pentecost, 

The  ascension  a  link  be- 
tween resurrection  and,  389 

Perfection, 

of  the  Church  in  Christ, 

The, 424 

of  Divine  purpose,  Jesus 

the, 393 

of  Jesus  physically,  The,  133/ 
of  Jesus  in  spite  of  tempta- 
tion. The, 136 

of  Manhood,  The,  ...  392 
The  resurrection  the  Man's,  364 
of  Saviourhood,  The,  .    .    394 

Personality, 

of  the  devil,  The,     ...  158 

Jesus  a  perfect  human,    .  89 

unlimited,  Perfect,    ...  28 

Peter, 

The  blundering  of,  233,  250/ 
Jesus'  consciousness  of  the 
Cross  at  the  confession 

of, 288 

His  Pentecostal  sermon,  .    35 1 
The   transfiguration  after 
his  confession,  .    .    .    .    215 

Pharisees, 

the  ritualists.  The,    ...    140 

Place, 

of  the  temptation.  The     .    156 

Plan, 

Temptation  in  the  Divine,  159 

Plentitude, 

and  power  of  the  Spirit, 
The, 206 

Possessing, 

the  kingdoms,  The  cost  of,  192 

Possibility, 

of  his  own  being,  Man  re- 
stored to  the,     ....   443 


472  Subject 

Power,  Page 

The  Lamb  on  the  throne 

of, 403 

and    plentitude     of     the 
Spirit,  The, 206 

Powers, 

Jesus'     relation     to     un- 
fallen, 208/ 

Preparation, 

for  death,  The  transfigura- 
tion the, 333 

of  man's  spirit.  The,         .    433 
of  a  written  record,  The,  430/ 

Presence, 

of  Moses  and  Ehjah,  The 
significance  of  the,  .    .   237 

Presentation, 

in    the  temple  of   Jesus, 

The, 108/ 

Priestism, 

destroyed  in  resurrection,  367 
Priests, 

at  the  Cross,  The  chief,   . 

332>  340 
Principle, 

governing  will.  The,    .    .      38 
Privacy, 

of  the  thirty  years.  The,   107/" 
Problems, 

The  Cross  solves  two,  .    .    290 
Process, 

God's  method  of  crisis  and,     16 
Promise, 

made    by    Christ   of    the 
Spirit,  The, 407 

of  the  Spirit,  The,    .    .    .    408 

of  the  Spirit  through  the 
prophets.  The,  .    .    .    408/" 
Proof, 

of  resurrection,  The  Church 

the  supreme, 383 

Prophecy, 

Jesus  the  Fulfiller  of,  .    .    221 

The  voices  of, 99 

Prophet, 

and  reformer,  Elijah  the, 

236/,  390 


Index 

Prophets,  Page 

The  Hebrew, 137 

John  the  last  of  the,    .    .    137 
The  promise  of  the  Spirit 
through  the,  ....    408/" 

Publicans, 

and  John,  The, 140 

Publicity, 

of  the  three  years,  The,  115/ 

Purpose, 

of  angelic  ministry.  The,  439 
of  Incarnation,  The,  .  .  84 
Jesus  the  perfection  of  the 

Divine, 393 

for  humanity,  Jesus  God's,     87 
of  man's  creation.  The,  .   439 
of      the      transfiguration. 
The, 219/ 

Race, 

Jesus  the  Head  of  a  new,  369 
Rationalists, 

The  Sadducees  the,  .    .    .    140 
Realization, 

of  the  ideal  greater  than 
the  original  ideal.  The,  447 
Reconciliation, 

Incarnation  not,   ....      94 
only  through  death,  ...      94 
Reconstruction, 

impossible  within  destruc- 
tion,     60 

Record, 

The  Spirit  the  Expositor 

of  the, 432 

The   Spirit   the   Preparer 

of  a, 430/ 

Redemption, 

Glorification  the  third  fact 

in, 440 

Justification  the  first  fact 

in, 440 

Knowledge     restored     to 

man  in, yi  f 

God's  love  the  reason  of,  61 
Man's  ruin  and,  ....  17 
Sanctification   the  second 

fact  in, 440 

the    work   of   the   Spirit, 
The  experience  of,  .    .   420 


Subject  Index  470 

Reformer,                                  Page  Resurrection,                            Page 

ah  the  prophet  and,  .  proves   the   value   of  the 

236/  390  death  of  Jesus,  The,    .    377 

Regeneration,  ^^^  King's  victory,  The,  .    364 

420  ^  perfect  victory.  The,  .    .    35 1 

Rejection            a  threefold  victory,  The,  353/ 

xs.ejecnon.  The   world   powers  over- 

of  imperfection,  God's,    .    365  thrown  in,                         ^67 

of   man   an   act  of  love,  r.                                    •    •    •    •    o  / 

God's,    .    .                      368  l^eturn, 

Relation,  of  Jesus  to  Nazareth,  The,  ^ 

to  unfallen  powers,  Jesus',  Revealed, 

208/  -pjjg  mystery, 68 

Rehgion,  r>       1  .• 

The  Hebrew,    ...             96  ^^^^'^'>°n' 

T5  ,.  .                                          •      y"  according  to  capacity,  .    .    222 

Tv."''t>    r          .    r  ^^'''''   God's  MediJm  of 

The  Parliament  of,  .    .    .    253  Self-, 428 

Repulse,  The  development  of  God's,  16/ 

of  the  devil.  The,  168,  181,  192  of  the  Father,  Jesus  the  full,  391 

Responsibility,  of  God,  Man  a,     ....   443 

Revelation  creates,  .    .    .    222  of  grace  in  the  Cross,  The, 

Restoration,  ,,        .      ,     ^                 3^'/ 

Governmental,      .               42.  h1  Wt\'^''T'P^' 3^^/ 

Judicial,     .....;   42?  demanded,  The  obedience 

of  man  to  God's  image  °l  ''':,',■''    '    ^^^ 

The                      ""•*«*=»  creates  responsibility,  ,    .    222 

Vital,  ' 1^?  of  wisdom  in  the  Cross, 

Result,               '  ^  ^'^^' 313/ 

of  the  vision.  The,           260/  Rigliteousness, 

Resurrection,  of  conduct  possible  ?  Is,  .    291 

a  Divine  act.  The,    .    .    .    364  Risen, 

Faith's  anchorage  in  the,  373/  If  Christ  be  not,  .    .         378/ 

The  appearances  after  the,  382  Ritualists, 

I'aul  s  argument  for  the,      ^78  ti,^  t>u    ■         .1. 

The  Church  the  supreme  ^^  ^      ^^'^  ^'''"'""'  ^^^'  •    •    •    '40 

proof  of  the,     .                382  Rome, 

granted  by  the  fact,  The  '^^^  ^^^^  °f' 87 

value  of  the, 377  The  government  of,  .    .    .      96 

What  did  happen  if  no,       -280  c^ 

The  importance  of  the,   .   371  Sacrifice, 

The    Saviour's   mediation  ^°^  ^'"»  J^^^^  the  final,     .    145 

perfect  in, 364  Sadducees, 

a  necessity.  The,  ....    352  The  rationalists  the,     .    .    140 

and  Pentecost,  The  ascen-  Salome 

.u "'??  'I"^  ''"*"  between,  389  at  the  Cross,                           ,,0 

Ae  Man's  perfection.  The,  364  The  sorrow  of, ^^r 

Pnestism  destroyed  in,     .    367  Sanctification,                   •    •    •    ^^i 

God  s   seal  upon  Christ's  the  second  fact  in  redemp- 

^"'■'^'The 361/  tion,   ....          ^440 


474 


Subject 


Sanhedrim,  Page 

at  the  Cross,  The,     .   332,  340 

Satan, 

and  the  angels.  The  fall 

of. 158,  355 

a  servant  of  God,     .    .    .    354 

Satisfaction, 

of  Jesus,  The  Divine,  .    .    254 

Saul, 

of  Tarsus, 383 

Saviour, 

The  resurrection  the  medi- 
ation of  the, 364 

Saviourhood, 

The  perfection  of,    ...   394 

Scientific, 

discovery, 31 

investigation, 53 

Scripture, 

The  Jews'  misunderstand- 
ing of,     95 

to  Incarnation,  The  testi- 
mony of, 67 

Seal, 

upon  Christ's  work.  The 
resurrection  God's,  .    361/" 
Secrets, 

to  Jesus,  No, 131 

Seed, 

and  its  issue.  The,    .    .    .    230 
Sermon, 

Peter's  Pentecostal,  ...    35 1 
Servant, 

of  God,  Satan  a,   .    .    .    .    354 

The  suffering, 95 

Service, 

Worship  is, 194 

Severity, 

and    judgment    of    God, 

The 312 

Shadow, 

of  God,  Man  a 25 

Sheep, 

Jesus  the  Shepherd  of  the,  370 
Shekel, 

The  fellowship  of  the,  263/ 


Index 

Shepherd,  Page 

of  the  sheep,  Jesus  the,   .    370 

Shepherds, 

of  Bethlehem,  The,  .    .    .    100 

Significance, 

of    Moses'    and    Elijah's 

passing, 241 

of    Moses'    and    Elijah's 

presence, 237 

of  the  temptation.  The,   .    159 

Silence, 

The  mystery  of,    ....    301 

Sin, 

The  initial  act  and  result 

of. 33/ 

assumed,  Jesus  Victor  over, 

356/ 
John's  consciousness  of,  .    139 

at  the  Cross, 339 

on  the  intellect.  The  effect 

of, 53 

The  final  issue  of,  ...  297 
Jesus  the  final  sacrifice  for,  145 
in  conflict  with  love,  .  .  305 
The  true  nature  of,  .  ,  304/ 
The  primal  origin  of,  .  .355 
as    origin,    Jesus    Victor 

over,      354 

borne    and    broken.   The 

penalty    and    paralysis 

of, 324 

as   principle.   The    Lamb 

the  Bearer  of,  ...  .  147 
The  relative  result  of,  .  .  43 
The  slavery  of,  •  .  •  •  317 
from  without,  Jesus  Victor 

over, 356 

Slain, 

A  Lamb, 402 

Slaughter, 

of  the  innocents.  The,  .  100 
Slavery, 

of  sin,  The, 317 

Soldiers, 

at  the  Cross,  The,     .   331,  338 

and  John,  The,  ....  14I 
Solidarity, 

of  humanity,  The,    .    ,    .  446 


Subject 

Son,  Page 

The, 82 

of  God,  The 81 

of  God,  Jesus  identified  as 

the, 254 

The  anointed  King  the,  .  190 
of  God,  The  Lamb  the,  .  148 
of  Man,  The, 81/ 

Sonship, 

The    devil's    estimate   of 
Divine 167 

Sofia, 

128 

Sorrow, 

the  consciousness  of  lack,  299 

at  the  Cross, 333/ 

God  capable  of,  .  .  ,  .401 
Love  the  capacity  for  joy 

and, 401 

of  Mary  Magdalene,  The, 

333/ 

of     Mary     His     mother, 
The, 335/ 

of  Salome,  The,   ....    335 
Soul, 

The  Master's  estimate  of 

one, 204 

Speech, 

of  the  disciples  interrupted, 

The, 254 

Spirit, 

The  body  the  expression 
of  the, 27 

A  broken, 399 

made  by  Christ,  The  prom- 
ise of  the, 407 

for  others,  Christ  received 
the, 408,  410 

reveals     Christ    to    man, 
The, 430 

unveils  Christ,  The,  .    .    433/ 

•wYiy  given  to  Christ,  The,  41 1 

Conviction    the    work   of 
the, 419 

the  Expositor  of  the  Rec- 
ord, The, 430 

The    perfection   of   Jesus 
in, 126/ 

The  plentitude  and  power 
of  the, 206 


Index  475 

Spirit,  Page 

The  preparation  of  Man's,  433 
the  Preparer  of  a  written 

Record,  The,  .  .  .  430/ 
The  promise  of  the,  .  .  408 
through  the  prophets,  The 

promise  of  the,      .    .    408/ 
The  experience  of  redemp- 
tion the  work  of  the,    .   420 
Atoning  suffering  in  the 

wounding  of  Jesus',  .  400 
in   temptation,   Jesus   led 

by  the, 159 

Star, 

in  the  east.  The,  ....      97 

Statement, 

The   sufferings  of  Christ 
impossible  of  final,  .    .    293 

Story, 

of  the  malefactor.  The,    325/ 

Strength, 

of  manhood  is  in  submis- 
sion, The, 170 

Submission, 

is  saved,  Man  responding 
by, 420 

The  strength  of  manhood 

is  in,      170 

Subtlety, 

of  the  devil.  The,     ...    154 
Suffering, 

in  the  wounding  of  Jesus' 
Spirit,  Atoning,    .    .    ,    400 
Sufferings, 

Atoning, 303 

of    Christ    impossible    of 
final  statement.  The,    .    293 

Expiatory, 303 

Vicarious, 303 

Superscription, 

of  the  Cross,  The,    .    .    .    325 
Swine, 

The  destruction  of,  .    .     308/ 
Symbols, 

The  sacramental,      ...      31 

Tarsus, 

Saul  of, 383 


476 


Subject  Index 


Teaching,  Page 

of  Jesus,  The  doing  and,  115 

Jesus', 90 

TixTWVf 

"4 

Telepathy, 

131 

Temple, 

Christ  and  the, 177 

at  Jerusalem,  The,  .  .  .  177 
The    temptation    on    the 

wing  of  the,  ....     175/" 
The  wing  of  the,  .    .    .    .    178 

Temptation, 

Completion  of  every,  .    .    207 

Forty  days  of, 162 

The  devil  the  agent  of,  157/ 
Jesus  led  by  the  Spirit  in,  159 
Jesus  perfect  in  spite  of,  136 
of  the  Master  in  relation 

to  His  ministry,  The,  205/ 
on  the  mountain.  The,  .  188 
The  place  of  the,  .  .  .  .  156 
in  the  Divine  plan,  ...  159 
The  significance  of  the,  .  159 
The  time  of  the,  .  .  .  155/ 
in  the  wilderness.  The,  163/ 
on  the  wing  of  the  temple. 
The, 175/ 

Temptations, 

The  order  of  the,  .    ...    162 

Testament, 

The  authority  of  the  New,  382 

Testaments, 

The  Lamb  in  the  Old  and 
New,      145 

Testing, 

of  trust.  The 183 

Theocracy, 

The  Hebrew  nation  a,     .    177 

Theory, 

of  Atonement,  A,     .   297,  301 

Things, 

The  mystery  of  secret,  .  69 
Secret  and  revealed,     .    .      69 

Thought, 

Reader,  Jesus  a,  .    .    .    .    130 


Throne,  Page 

of  power,  The  Lamb  on 
the, 403 

Time, 

of  the  temptation,  The,  155/ 

Transfiguration, 

Communion  issues  in,  .  .  222 
The  consciousness  of  the 

Cross  at, 288 

a  consummation.  The,  .  .  228 
The    conversation   of  the 

exodus  at  the,    ....    216 
for    the     disciples'    sake, 

The, 219,  246 

glory  inherent, 227 

Perfect  humanity  in,  .  .  229 
Its   influence  on  the  dis- 

ciples, 255 

unnecessary  to  Jesus,  The,  228 
its  occasion.  The,  .  .  215/ 
after     Peter's    confession, 

The, 215 

the  prelude  to  death.  The,  231 
the  preparation  for  death. 

The, 233 

its  purpose.  The,  .  .  .  219/ 
for    the   strengthening  of 

the  disciples'  faith,  The,  218 
and  its  witnesses,  The,    .    218 

Trust, 

in  God  attacked,  Christ's,  174/ 
never  tempts,  Perfect,  .  183/ 
The  testing  of, 183 

Unity, 

of  God,  The 88 

Utterances, 

of  the  Cross,  The  seven,  294 

Valley, 

The  lunatic  in  the,   .    .    262/" 

Value, 

of  God's  approbation  of 
Jesus,  The,    ....     123/ 

created  in  the  death  of 
Jesus,  The  moral,         .   359 

of  Jesus'  death.  The  resur- 
rection proves  the,    .    .    377 

in  the  penalty  borne.  A,  .    299 


Subject  Index 


477 


Value,                                      Page 
of  resurrection  granted  by 
the  fact,  The 377 

Vicarious, 

sufferings, 303 

Victory, 

The  authority  of,  ....  207 
Christ's  perfect,  .  .  .  198/ 
The      resurrection      the 

King's, 364 

The  resurrection  a  perfect,  351 
The  resurrection  a  three- 
fold,     353/ 

over  sin  assumed,  Jesus',  3567" 
over  sin  as  origin,  Jesus',  354 
over    sin     from    without, 
Jesus', 356 

Vision, 

of  the  kingdoms.  The,  .  188 
John's  preliminary,  ...  139 
of  love,  John's  supreme,  .  142 
The  result  of  the,     .    .     260/ 

Visions, 

The  worth  of, 261 

Voice, 

The  living, 121 

Way, 

back  to  God,  The,    .    .    .   411 

Weapon, 

The  Word  the   Master's, 

169,  181,  193 
Wilderness, 

The  temptation  in  the,  163/ 
Will, 

Christ's  delight  in  God's,  175 
of  God  attacked,  Christ's 

loyalty  to  the,   ....    163 
of  God  simple  and  benefi- 
cent, The, 57 

of   God   under  authority, 

The, 39 

The    governing   principle 

of, 38 

Jesus  perfect  in,    .    .    .     1327" 
Man's  free,        ....    32,  38 
restored,     Man's     knowl- 
edge,  affection,   and,  443/" 
Wing, 

of  the  temple,  The,      .    .    178 


Wisdom,  Page 

The  Cross  the  revelation 

of  Divine,      .    .    .    .     313/ 
limits  human  intelligence, 
Human, 68 

Without, 

Jesus'     victory    over    sin 
from, 356 

Witnesses, 

of  the  transfiguration.  The,  218 

Women, 

at  the  Cross,  The,     .    .    .    330 

Word, 

The  devil's  use  of  the,  .  180 
of  God  in  creation.  The,  37 
The    Master's   familiarity 

with  the 205 

The  Master's  use  of  the,  .  205 
the  Master's  weapon.  The, 

169,  181,  193 
the  Medium  of  Divine  ex- 
pression, The,  ....      73 

Work, 

of  God,  The, 283 

The  issue  of  Christ's,  .  .  425 
Man  created  for,  ....  198 
The     resurrection    God's 

seal  upon  Christ's,    .    36iy 
of  the  Spirit,  Conviction  the,  419 
of  the  Spirit,  The  experi- 
ence of  redemption  the,  420 

World, 

at  the  Cross,The  folly  of  the,  341 
forces,  The  three,     .    .    306/" 
powers  overthrown  in  res- 
urrection, The,  ....    367 

Worship, 

of  Baal,  The, 44 

of  God  alone,  The,  .  .  .  194 
of  Mammon,  The,  .  .  .  45/ 
of  Moloch,  The,   ....      44 

is  service, 194 

Spiritual, 27 

Worth, 

of  visions,  The 261 

Years, 

of  conflict  with  evil.  Thirty,  153 
The  thirty  private,  .  .  107/" 
The  three  public,      .    .     115/ 

Youth, 

of  Jesus,  The,  ....    112/ 


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Top,  jSi.5onet. 
"It  is    not   an  indifferent 
problem  of  abstract  phil- 
osophy,   but     an    urgent 
question  of  every-day  life, 
and  it  is  not  as  a  pendant, 
but  as    a   practical   man, 
that  Mr.  Black  deals  with 

with    an    Introductory 
Note    by    W.    Robertson 
Nicoll,D.D.;  and  marginal 
and  other  decorations   by 
F.   Berkeley  Smith. 
Printed    in    two  colors. 
Thirty  -fifth  thuus  and, 
i2mo,  decorated  cloth, 
gilt  top,  boxed.    ^1.25- 

it,   anxious    not   to   spin 

Half    Persian      Morocco, 

plausible  theories,   but  to 

gilt  top,  boxed.  J2.CXD  net. 

give     facts     their     exact 

weight.     His  work  is  that 

Fall    Persian    Morocco, 

of  a  critic  in  the  true  sense 

round  corners,  red   under 

of   the    word." — Evening 

Post. 

gold  edges.    jz.5onet. 

"Mr.  Black   Is  a  man  of 

The  Dkram  of  Youth 

great  spiritual  earnestness, 
simplicity  of   nature,  and 

I2mo,   Decorated    Boards, 

very  fine  intellectual  qual- 

30 cts. 

ity.     This  volume,  which 

"An    excellent   discourse. 

is  tender  and  winning, and 

based  on  Solomon's  choice 

at  the  same  time  vigorous 

of  wisdom  in  a  dream.     . 

and    incisive,    shows    the 

.     .     The   stress  on    the 

fine   grain   of    the  man's 

relation  of  what  youth  as- 

nature.     The  subject   is 

pires   to,   and    the   conse- 

an old  one;  the  treatment 

quent^  career,  is  enforced 

is    fresh,    vivacious,    and 

with  Scotch  vigor." — The 

genuinely      religious."  — 

S.  S.  Times. 

The  OutUi. 

Fleming    H.   Re 

:VEL,Li      COMPANT 

NEW  XOBK                       CHI 

CAGO                      TOBONTO 

DATE  DUE 

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CAYLORD 

PRINTED  IN  U.S.A. 

.*• 


■'°f  f  ^         ^  B  -  Preaching 

Crises   of  ^ 

the   Olirist 


